[SandRat]

Full transcript of President Bush's remarks

[SandRat]

America Will Not Back Down in War on Terror

[FairOpinion]

"Neither the United States of America nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's security to constitute maximum peril.

My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out. No one can foresee precisely what course it will take or what costs or casualties will be incurred. Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead -- months in which both our patience and our will will be tested, months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing.

The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission.

Our goal is not the victory of might, but the vindication of right; not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere, and, we hope, around the world. God willing, that goal will be achieved."

---- John F. Kennedy, Oct. 22, 1962


http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jfkcubanmissilecrisis.html


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My, how Democrats changed since them....

[Soul Seeker]

Democrats quoted and nailed by the President... Any guesses?

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http://www.rightwingnews.com/

"_"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons." - Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

_"The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as (Saddam Hussein) is in power." - Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.

_"Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think that the president's approaching this in the right fashion." - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev."

[doug from upland]

Ahhhhhh......I love the sound of leadership in the morning.

[nopardons]

bttt

[thoughtomator]

Guess he's drinking coffee again. That was a long nap!

[garylmoore]

"America will never run; we will stand, we will fight and we will win the war on terror."

I can't help but wonder what will happen if a DemoRat wins the next Presidency.

[advance_copy]

Here is the best part:

Under Saddam's dictatorship, Iraq was the only country in the world where American military pilots faced regular attack. Iraq was the only country that had used chemical weapons on its own people, invaded its neighbors, and fought a war against the United States and a great coalition. Iraq was only one of seven countries listed as a state sponsor of terror, and it was judged by intelligence agencies around the globe to possess weapons of mass destruction. After more than a decade of diplomacy, we gave Saddam Hussein a final chance to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolutions, ordering him to disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. When he refused, we had a choice: Do we take the word of a madman and forget the lessons of September the 11th, or do we take action to defend our country? Given that choice, I will defend America every time. (Applause.)

Combat forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Poland, and other countries enforced the demands of the United Nations, and put an end to Saddam's regime. Because we acted, the Iraqi people now live in freedom, and the people of the United States are safer.

Reasonable people can disagree about the conduct of the war, but it is irresponsible for Democrats to now claim that we misled them and the American people. Leaders in my administration and members of the United States Congress from both political parties looked at the same intelligence on Iraq, and reached the same conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat.

Let me give you some quotes from three senior Democrat leaders: First, and I quote, "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons." Another senior Democrat leader said, "The war against terrorism will not be finished as long as Saddam Hussein is in power." Here's another quote from a senior Democrat leader: "Saddam Hussein, in effect, has thumbed his nose at the world community. And I think the President is approaching this in the right fashion."

They spoke the truth then, and they're speaking politics now. (Applause.)

The truth is that investigations of intelligence on Iraq have concluded that only one person manipulated evidence and misled the world -- and that person was Saddam Hussein. In early 2004, when weapons inspector David Kay testified that he had not found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he also testified that, "Iraq was in clear material violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441. They maintained programs and activities, and they certainly had the intentions at a point to resume their programs. So there was a lot they wanted to hide because it showed what they were doing that was illegal."

Eight months later, weapons inspector Charles Duelfer issued a report that found, "Saddam Hussein so dominated the Iraqi regime that its strategic intent was his alone. He wanted to end sanctions while preserving the capability to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction when the sanctions were lifted."

Some of our elected leaders have opposed this war all along. I disagreed with them, but I respect their willingness to take a consistent stand. Yet some Democrats who voted to authorize the use of force are now rewriting the past. They are playing politics with this issue and they are sending mixed signals to our troops and the enemy. And that's irresponsible.

As our troops fight a ruthless enemy determined to destroy our way of life, they deserve to know that their elected leaders who voted to send them into war continue to stand behind them. (Applause.) Our troops deserve to know that this support will remain firm when the going gets tough. (Applause.) And our troops deserve to know that whatever our differences in Washington, our will is strong, our nation is united, and we will settle for nothing less than victory.

Give 'em hell Dubya!

[wayoverontheright]

From the perspective of the jihadis, this war has never been a strategic one. It has been theater, a macabre play, played out before many audiences.

The "Arab street" once applauding in celebration, now finds itself whispering and looking for the exits. The "American street", brought in to the venue in droves by the American media, are now the jihad's last hope for a curtain call.

Note the jihadis' switch from touting the Mogadishu model to the Vietnam template, and the attempt to change the subject through the French riots and the Jordan bombings. The jihad sees Iraq as a lost cause, but the American left doesn't, so the war is thus prolonged.

[varon]

The best way to prevent terrorists from gaining new recruits is to replace hatred and resentment with democracy and freedom, Bush said, because the value of free societies has been proven by history.

Mr. President, that is so simplistic and based more on wishful thinking than reality. If your words had validity, then our great nation, the epitome of democracy and freedom would be free of hatred and resentment but that is not the case, Mr. President. Neither you or I can walk the streets of any of our major cities without signs of that which you claim should not exist.

The babble of phrases containing democracy..........freedom etc is getting old fast. They are overused and frankly have given cause to make me think they are cover for other less palatable motives.