Posted on 08/26/2003 6:41:34 AM PDT by bedolido
(Talon News) -- National Security Advisor Dr. Condoleezza Rice addressed the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars on Monday and received the organization's Eisenhower Distinguished Service Award. The enthusiastic crowd that filled the San Antonio, Texas convention center heard Dr. Rice praise them for their "important work of helping to ensure that our veterans and our active-duty soldiers receive the respect and the benefits they deserve."
Rice pointed out that it's been almost two years since the September 11 attacks and said, "It is worth taking a moment to reflect and report on the strategy that America has pursued in responding to that awful day."
Rice drew a comparison with the attack on Pearl Harbor, saying, "No less than December 7, 1941, September 11, 2001 forever changed the lives of every American and the strategic perspective of the United States." Rice noted that the attacks in Washington and New York produced an acute sense of vulnerability to attacks "hatched in distant lands, that come without warning, bringing tragedy to our shores."
The national security advisor declared that real progress has been made against terrorism in the past two years, but in a reference to last week's bombings in Baghdad and Jerusalem that killed dozens of children and United Nations workers including Special Envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, Dr. Rice admitted, "We get regular reminders that the world continues to be an unsafe place."
"These bombings confirm that our enemies are engaged in a war on freedom, and they will target all people living in freedom -- including women, children, or relief workers," Rice said.
Rice said that the ultimate goal of terrorists is to impose a system based on "tyranny and oppression."
"They terrorize free people to break our spirit and our resolve. But we cannot and will not shrink from this fight," Dr. Rice said.
Rice spoke of President Bush's approach to terrorism, saying, "From the very beginning of this war on terror, President Bush has delivered a clear and consistent message to the terrorists."
"The President has backed up these words with action. We have taken the fight to the terrorists themselves -- using all instruments of our national power to root out terror networks and hold accountable states that harbor terrorists," Rice said.
Rice recounted that rooting the Taliban out of Afghanistan was the "first battle because they had provided the home base and primary sanctuary for al Qaeda." Rice noted that "unparalleled law enforcement and intelligence cooperation efforts" have successfully broken up and disrupted terrorist networks.
The national security advisor declared, "Confronting Saddam Hussein was also essential. His regime posed a threat to the security of the United States and the world."
Rice maintained that the Iraqi regime pursued, used, and possessed weapons of mass destruction. Rice also said that Hussein had links to terror and that the threat he posed could not be allowed to remain and to grow.
"Now that Saddam's regime is gone, the people of Iraq are more free and seeing real progress. Step by step, normal life in Iraq is being reborn as basic services are restored -- in some cases beyond pre-war levels -- transportation networks are rebuilt and the economy is revived," Rice said.
She commented on the recent rise in terror strikes, saying, "Let me be very clear, the terrorists know that a free Iraq can change the face of the Middle East. That is why they, together with the remnants of the old regime, are fighting as if this is a life and death struggle. It is - and the terrorists will lose."
Rice emphasized the importance of the transformation in the Middle East, calling it "the only guarantee that it will no longer produce ideologies of hatred that lead men to fly airplanes into buildings in New York or Washington."
"When Americans begin a noble cause, we finish it. We are 117 days from the end of major combat operations in Iraq. That is not very long," Rice said.
She reminded those in attendance of the struggles in the post-World War II period. Rice said, "As some of you here today surely remember, the road we traveled was very difficult. ... Germany was not immediately stable or prosperous. SS officers -- called "werewolves" -- engaged in sabotage and attacked both coalition forces and those locals cooperating with them -- much like today's Ba'athist and Fedayeen remnants."
Rice expressed confidence the U.S. will meet the challenges faced in Afghanistan and Iraq, "because the central players will include America's men and women in uniform." She praised those who made "priceless contributions to the security of Europe following World War II, and then to the security and prosperity of Asia in the next decade."
The national security advisor's speech came on the same day as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also spoke before the VFW. He later conducted a town-hall meeting at Lackland Air Force Base in which he defended the administration's decisions regarding troop strength. President Bush will address the national convention of the American Legion in St. Louis on Tuesday to deliver what is expected to be a national policy speech on Iraq.
Copyright © 2003 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.