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Spike's & Jamie's 911 Memorial Page
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We are dedicating this page to the friends and families of
those killed or injured during the cowardly attack on an innocent American
civilian population on 9/11/01; also to the rescue workers and volunteers who
have given so much of themselves to help during this tragedy - some have given
all.
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President
George W. Bush
"This nation is daring and decent and ready for change."
--George W. Bush
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Whatever your political affiliation ... I think you will find this to be an
interesting read. It was sent to me by a friend & I wanted to share it with you.
President George "W" Bush . . . God's Man for This Hour
This was the same man who came within a hair's breadth of losing an
election in November, who withstood the political chicanery of the
Florida Democratic machine to fix the vote count.
This was the same man who admitted to having a drinking problem in
younger years, and whose happy-go-lucky lifestyle led him to mediocre grades in college and an ill-fated oil venture.
This was the same man who mangled syntax even more than his father, and
whose speaking missteps became known as "Bushisms."
And on Friday, this was the man who bore the weight of the world and the responsibilities of a generation with dignity, class, confidence,
appropriate solemnity, and even much-needed wit.
One thing struck me during the campaign, that difficult, roller-coaster
campaign that now seems years ago. It was that George W. Bush never seemed to get ruffled. Whether the theft of a campaign debate video or the sudden (some would say, vicious) release of a DUI arrest two decades ago at a key moment, "W" did not lose his cool. At times, his staff seemed overconfident, as did many of us. A 350-electoral-vote win, they quietly implied . . . and we optimistically believed.
Then they counted the votes, miscounted others, and re-counted still
others. At the end, he was still there. Whereas Al Gore almost
frantically huffed and puffed, trying to gin up something out of
nothing, Bush quietly but confidently waited at his ranch. He didn't do
anything: that is the mistake people have constantly made with this man, confusing lack of bluster for absence of action. No, his team of
attorneys and the iron-willed James Baker were carrying out his orders,
but W stayed in the background, confident and faithful.
You see, it is this faith business that confounded everyone. We have had such actors and liars in public office that we have looked skeptically whenever anyone used the term faith.
But this was the same man who was the first politician ever in recent
memory to name Jesus Christ as the lord of his life on public TV. Not an oblique reference to being "born-again" or having a "life change." He said the UN-PC-like phrase, "Jesus Christ," to which his handlers and advisors, no doubt, off stage, were also saying, "Jesus Christ" in a much different tone.
God has a way of honoring those who honor him. David learned that while he was on the run from Saul's armies. Job learned that after his time of horrible tribulation. The Messiah said so Himself, many times.
So this was the man who actually put faith into practice. He actually
loves those who hate him. It is a staggering concept, so foreign in
daily occurrence that few thought it anything but grandstanding. Even one of W's biggest supporters chided the president for adhering to his "new tone."
Yet there he was, again and again, thanking the Democrats. Appointing his enemies to high places in his government. Inviting his former foes and their wives to private movie screenings, and (I know, this is hard to stomach) even treating them with dignity. See, this was the man who learned early on how faith worked: by praying for his enemies, you "heap burning coals upon their heads."
This was the man who named the absolute top people in national security and defense, then caught barbs from the politically righteous that this one didn't have the right views on abortion or that one didn't have the right position on guns.
And on September 11, at midmorning, this was the man thrust into a
position only known by Roosevelt, Churchill, Lincoln, and Washington.
The weight of the world was on his shoulders, and the responsibility of
a generation was on his soul.
So this same man---the one that the media repeatedly attempted to
tarnish with charges of "illegitimacy," and the one whose political
opponents desperately sought to stonewall until mid-term
elections---walked to his seat at the front of the National Cathedral
just three days after the two most impressive symbols of American
capitalism and prosperity virtually evaporated, along with, perhaps,
thousands of Americans.
As he sat down next to his wife, immediately I knew that even if his
faith ever faltered, hers didn't. I have never seen a more peaceful face
than Laura Bush, whose eyes seemed as though they were already gazing at the final outcome . . . not just of this conflict, but of her reward in Heaven itself. In this marriage, you indeed got two for the price of
one.
The appropriate songs were sung, as one said, in an almost unbearably emotional service. I, for one, broke down innumerable times merely listening on tape delay on the radio. How the man spoke without blubbering, I'll never know.
Then came the defining moment of our generation. Some people fondly recall their Woodstock days. Others mark with grim sadness November 22, 1963, as the day America lost her innocence. But I firmly believe when the history of this time is written, it will be acknowledged by friend and foe alike that President George W. Bush came of age in that cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees.
It wasn't so much his words, though read a decade later, they will
indeed be as stirring as any. The conflict would end, he noted, "at a
time of our choosing." It certainly wasn't his emotion. What had to have been one of the most stunning exhibitions of self-control in
presidential history, W was able to deliver his remarks without losing
either his resolve or his focus, or, more important, his confidence. It
was as if God's hand, which had guided him through that sliver-thin
election, now rested fully on him. His quiet confidence let our enemies
know . . . and believe me, they know . . . that they made a grave
miscalculation.
Now, this same man who practiced his faith through a tough election, who steeled his convictions even more in a drawn-out Florida battle, and who never once gave in to the temptation to get in the gutter with his foes, this same man now lifted the weight of the world and the responsibility of a generation and put it on his modest shoulders as though it were another unpleasant duty.
As he walked back to his seat, the camera angle was appropriate. He was virtually alone in the scene, alone in that massive place of God, just
him and the Lord. But that's the way it's always been in his life
recently. In that brief time it took him to return to his seat, I
believe he heard words to the effect of, "You can do this, George. I am
with you always. And you can do this well, because I am going before
you. And don't worry about the weight. I've got it." And I saw in his
eyes a quiet acknowledgment. "I know. Thank you, Lord."
Back at his seat, when W sat down, George H. W. Bush reached over and took his son's hand. I believe that in that fatherly squeeze George H. W. said, "I wish I could do this for you, son, but I can't. You have to
do this on your own." W squeezed back and gave him that look of peace that Laura had kept throughout. It said, "I don't have to do it alone, dad. I've got help."
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President Bush spoke to the nation and the world on Friday, September 14, 2001, during the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance for the Victims of the Terrorist Attacks.
The National Cathedral
Washington, D.C.
1:00 P.M. EDT, September 14, 2001
THE PRESIDENT: We are here in the middle hour of our grief. So many have suffered so great a loss, and today we express our nation's sorrow. We come before God to pray for the missing and the dead, and for those who love them.
On Tuesday, our country was attacked with deliberate and massive cruelty. We have seen the images of fire and ashes, and bent steel.
Now come the names, the list of casualties we are only beginning to read.
They are the names of men and women who began their day at a desk or in an airport, busy with life. They are the names of people who faced death, and in their last moments called home to say, be brave, and I love you.
They are the names of passengers who defied their murderers, and prevented the murder of others on the ground. They are the names of men and women who wore the uniform of the United States, and died at their posts.
They are the names of rescuers, the ones whom death found running up the stairs and into the fires to help others. We will read all these names. We will linger over them, and learn their stories, and many Americans will weep.
To the children and parents and spouses and families and friends of the lost, we offer the deepest sympathy of the nation. And I assure you, you are not alone.
Just three days removed from these events, Americans do not yet have the distance of history. But our responsibility to history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil.
War has been waged against us by stealth and deceit and murder. This nation is peaceful, but fierce when stirred to anger. This conflict was begun on the timing and terms of others. It will end in a way, and at an hour, of our choosing.
Our purpose as a nation is firm. Yet our wounds as a people are recent and unhealed, and lead us to pray. In many of our prayers this week, there is a searching, and an honesty. At St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Tuesday, a woman said, "I prayed to God to give us a sign that He is still here."
Others have prayed for the same, searching hospital to hospital, carrying pictures of those still missing.
God's signs are not always the ones we look for. We learn in tragedy that his purposes are not always our own. Yet the prayers of private suffering, whether in our homes or in this great cathedral, are known and heard, and understood.
There are prayers that help us last through the day, or endure the night. There are prayers of friends and strangers that give us strength for the journey. And there are prayers that yield our will to a will greater than our own.
This world He created is of moral design. Grief and tragedy and hatred are only for a time. Goodness, remembrance, and love have no end. And the Lord of life holds all who die, and all who mourn.
It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true of a nation as well. In this trial, we have been reminded, and the world has seen, that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave. We see our national character in rescuers working past exhaustion; in long lines of blood donors; in thousands of citizens who have asked to work and serve in any way possible.
And we have seen our national character in eloquent acts of sacrifice. Inside the World Trade Center, one man who could have saved himself stayed until the end at the side of his quadriplegic friend. A beloved priest died giving the last rites to a firefighter. Two office workers, finding a disabled stranger, carried her down sixty-eight floors to safety. A group of men drove through the night from Dallas to Washington to bring skin grafts for burn victims.
In these acts, and in many others, Americans showed a deep commitment to one another, and an abiding love for our country. Today, we feel what Franklin Roosevelt called the warm courage of national unity. This is a unity of every faith, and every background.
It has joined together political parties in both houses of Congress. It is evident in services of prayer and candlelight vigils, and American flags, which are displayed in pride, and wave in defiance.
Our unity is a kinship of grief, and a steadfast resolve to prevail against our enemies. And this unity against terror is now extending across the world.
America is a nation full of good fortune, with so much to be grateful for. But we are not spared from suffering. In every generation, the world has produced enemies of human freedom. They have attacked America, because we are freedom's home and defender. And the commitment of our fathers is now the calling of our time.
On this national day of prayer and remembrance, we ask almighty God to watch over our nation, and grant us patience and resolve in all that is to come. We pray that He will comfort and console those who now walk in sorrow. We thank Him for each life we now must mourn, and the promise of a life to come.
As we have been assured, neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, can separate us from God's love. May He bless the souls of the departed. May He comfort our own. And may He always guide our country.
God bless America.
http://www.rnc.org
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President Bush’s Address to Congress and the Nation
September 21, 2001
Mr. Speaker, Mr. President pro tem, members of Congress and fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the union. Tonight, no such report is needed. It has already been delivered by
the American people.
We have seen it in the courage of passengers who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground. Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer. And would you please help me welcome his wife, Lisa Beamer, here tonight.
We have seen the state of our union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion. We've seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic. We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our union, and it is strong.
Tonight we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom. Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution. Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.
I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time. All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats joined together on the steps of this Capitol singing "God Bless America." And you did more than sing. You acted by delivering $40 billion to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our military.
Speaker Hastert, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank you for your friendship, for your leadership and for your service to our country.
And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its outpouring of support. America will never forget the sounds of our national anthem playing at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of Paris and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our embassy in Seoul or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo. We will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa and Latin America.
Nor will we forget the citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own: dozens of Pakistanis, more than 130 Israelis, more than 250 citizens of India, men and women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico and Japan, and hundreds of British citizens.
America has no truer friend than Great Britain.
Once again we are joined together in a great cause. I'm so honored the British prime minister has crossed an ocean to show his unity with America. Thank you for coming, friend.
On Sept. 11, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country. Americans have known wars. But for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one Sunday in 1941. Americans have known the casualties of war. But not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning. Americans have known surprise attacks. But never before on thousands of civilians. All of this was brought upon us in a single day. And night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.
Americans have many questions tonight. Americans are asking, "Who attacked our country?"
The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as Al Qaeda. They are some of the murderers indicted for bombing American Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, and responsible for bombing the U.S.S. Cole.
Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money; its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.
The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics. A fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teaching of Islam. The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.
This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries. They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan, where they are trained in the tactics of terror. They are sent back to their homes or sent to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction. The leadership of Al Qaeda has great influence in Afghanistan and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country.
In Afghanistan we see Al Qaeda's vision for the world. Afghanistan's people have been brutalized. Many are starving and many have fled. Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.
The United States respects the people of Afghanistan. After all, we are currently its largest source of humanitarian aid. But we condemn the Taliban regime. It is not only repressing its own people; it is threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and sheltering and supplying terrorists. By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder.
And tonight the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban:
¶Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of Al Qaeda who hide in your land.
¶Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned.
¶Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country.
¶Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and hand over every terrorist and every person in their support structure to appropriate authorities.
¶Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps so we can make sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists or they will share in their fate.
I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful. And those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying in effect to hijack Islam itself.
The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.
Our war on terror begins with Al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.
Americans are asking, "Why do they hate us?"
They hate what they see right here in this chamber, a democratically elected government. Their leaders are self-appointed. They hate our freedoms, our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other. They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East. They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.
These terrorists kill not merely to end lives but to disrupt and end a way of life. With every atrocity they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends. They stand against us because we stand in their way. We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
Americans are asking, "How will we fight and win this war?"
We will direct every resource at our command — every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence and every necessary weapon of war — to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network.
Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with the decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.
Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes.
Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations, secret even in success.
We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism.
Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists.
From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.
Our nation has been put on notice: We're not immune from attack.
We will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans. Today dozens of federal departments and agencies as well as state and local governments have responsibilities affecting homeland security. These efforts must be coordinated at the highest level.
So tonight I announce the creation of a cabinet-level position reporting directly to me, the Office of Homeland Security.
And tonight I also announce a distinguished American to lead this effort to strengthen American security, a military veteran, an effective governor, a true patriot, a trusted friend: Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge.
He will lead, oversee and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against terrorism and respond to any attacks that may come.
These measures are essential. The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.
Many will be involved in this effort, from F.B.I. agents to intelligence operatives to the reservists we have called to active duty. All deserve our thanks and all have our prayers.
And tonight a few miles from the damaged Pentagon, I have a message for our military: be ready. I've called the armed forces to alert and there is a reason. The hour is coming when America will act and you will make us proud.
This is not, however, just America's fight. And what is at stake is not just America's freedom. This is the world's fight, this is civilization's fight, this is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.
We ask every nation to join us. We will ask and we will need the help of police forces, intelligence service and banking systems around the world.
The United States is grateful that many nations and many international organizations have already responded with sympathy and with support. Nations from Latin America to Asia to Africa to Europe to the Islamic world.
Perhaps the NATO charter reflects best the attitude of the world: an attack on one is an attack on all.
The civilized world is rallying to America's side. They understand that if this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own citizens, may be next. Terror unanswered can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate governments. And you know what? We're not going to allow it.
Americans are asking, "What is expected of us?"
I ask you to live your lives and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat. I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here.
We're in a fight for our principles and our first responsibility is to live by them. No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith.
I ask you to continue to support the victims of this tragedy with your contributions. Those who want to give can go to a central source of information — libertyunites.org — to find the names of groups providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The thousands of F.B.I. agents who are now at work in this investigation may need your cooperation. And I ask you to give it. I ask for your patience with the delays and inconveniences that may accompany tighter security. And for your patience in what will be a long struggle.
I ask your continued participation and confidence in the American economy. Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity. They did not touch its source. America is successful because of the hard work and creativity and enterprise of our people. These were the true strengths of our economy before Sept. 11 and they are our strengths today.
And finally, please continue praying for the victims of terror and their families, for those in uniform and for our great country. Prayer has comforted us in sorrow and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.
Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you have already done and for what you will do. And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress I thank you, their representatives, for what you have already done and for what we will do together.
Tonight we face new and sudden national challenges. We will come together to improve air safety, to dramatically expand the number of air marshals on domestic flights and take new measures to prevent hijacking. We will come together to promote stability and keep our airlines flying with direct assistance during this emergency. We will come together to give law enforcement the additional tools it needs to track down terror here at home. We will come together to strengthen our intelligence capabilities to know the plans of terrorists before they act and to find them before they strike. We will come together to take active steps to strengthen America's economy and put our people back to work.
Tonight we welcome two leaders who embody the extraordinary spirit of all New Yorkers: Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
As a symbol of America's resolve, my administration will work with Congress and these two leaders to show the world that we will rebuild New York City.
After all that has just passed, all the lives taken and all the possibilities and hopes that died with them, it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear. Some speak of an age of terror. I know there are struggles ahead and dangers to face.
But this country will define our times, not be defined by them. As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror. This will be an age of liberty here and across the world.
Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger, we have found our mission and our moment. Freedom and fear are at war. The advance of human freedom, the great achievement of our time and the great hope of every time, now depends on us.
Our nation, this generation, will lift the dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire. We will not falter and we will not fail.
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead life will return almost to normal. We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good. *
Even grief recedes with time and grace.
But our resolve must not pass. Each of us will remember what happened that day and to whom it happened, will remember the moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing. Some will remember an image of a fire or a story of rescue. Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this: it is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others. It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son. It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.
I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield. I will not rest. I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain. Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war. And we know that God is not neutral between them.
Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice, assured of the rightness of our cause and confident of the victories to come. In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom and may he watch over the United States of America. Thank you.
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Published Wednesday, October 3, 2001
The things that Bush got right, and wrong, in his call for war
BY DANIEL PIPES
In his speech defining American policy on Sept. 20, President Bush explained what he meant by declaring ``war on terror'' and told the American people what it will mean to them. Overall, it was a strong presentation, with some parts exactly right, but it also contains errors that urgently require fixing.
Let's start with five good points:
The enemy's goal: It's ``not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life.''
That involves ``remaking the world -- and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.'' The president shows no illusions that al-Qaida's problem is American freedoms or U.S. policy in the Middle East, but something far more ambitious -- the very existence of the U.S. in its present form. As he put it, ``In Afghanistan, we see al-Qaida's vision for the world,'' one that applies no less to New York than to Kabul.
The enemy's nature: It is the heir ``of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century ... they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism.'' (What happened to communism, though? Omitted so as not to offend China?)
The enemy's method: Individuals from more than 60 countries are recruited, taken mainly to Afghanistan, trained, then sent to ``hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction.''
The enemy's brutality: Its leadership ``commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no distinction among military and civilians, including women and children.''
Defining the problem: The airline hijackings on Sept. 11 constituted an ``act of war.'' They were not crimes, but part of a concerted military effort by al-Qaida, ``a radical network of terrorists,'' and the governments supporting it.
But the president also got five matters wrong:
The enemy's identity: He avoids calling America's opponent by its name -- militant Islam -- preferring euphemisms such as ``terrorist group[s] of global reach.'' Two problems here: Terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy; and not explicitly defining the enemy leads to confusion and dissension.
The enemy's location: The address dealt only with foreign threats (``drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest,'' ``pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism''), ignoring the more delicate but equally vital U.S. domestic angle. The new Office of Homeland Security is not just to protect Americans from foreign attack but to extirpate the enemy within U.S. borders.
The enemy's appeal: The president dismissed al-Qaida's version of Islam as a repudiated ``fringe form of Islamic extremism.'' Hardly. Muslims on the streets of many places -- Pakistan and Gaza, in particular -- are fervently rallying to the defense of al-Qaida's vision of Islam. Likewise, the president's calling the terrorists ``traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam'' implies that other Muslims see them as apostates, which is simply wrong. Al-Qaida enjoys wide popularity; the very best the U.S. government can hope for is a measure of Muslim neutrality and apathy.
U.S. goals: These are inconsistent. ``Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaida who hide in your land'' implies that were the Afghan authorities to hand over a few individuals, the war effort would end, with no further concern about militant Islam. Contrarily, saying that the war effort will continue until ``every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated'' implies an ambitious effort against the forces of militant Islam. This contradiction contains the seeds of future problems. Bush needs to clarify that the latter is his real goal.
U.S. foreign policy: ``From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.'' This unrealistic bifurcation will not work in the real world of messy and competing interests. Preventing terrorism may seem like the only priority this week but it's not likely to maintain such total paramountcy for long, and making policy on this basis will lead to problems.
In short, while the president showed an excellent understanding of militant Islam -- calling it totalitarian was especially important -- he shied away from specifying it as the enemy and made unrealistic statements about the nature of the struggle ahead. These mistakes need urgently to be fixed, before they do damage.
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