For Immediate Release
August 27, 2003

Global Message

From President Bush's Remarks, 8/26/2003

In this first war of the 21st Century, America and all free nations are facing a new threat and fighting a new enemy: a global network of terror, supported by outlaw regimes.

Because America stands for freedom, and tolerance, and the rights of all, the terrorists have targeted our country. The terrorist have not seen Americans running... they have seen America marching. They have seen armies of liberation marching into Kabul and into Baghdad.

We've adopted a new strategy for a new kind of war. We will not wait for known enemies to strike us again. We will strike them - in their camps or caves or wherever they hide - before they hit more of our cities and kill more of our citizens. We are on the offensive against terror, and we will stay on the offensive.

Afghanistan today is a friend of the United States of America. Because we acted, that country is not a haven for terrorists, and the people of America are safer from attack. The al Qaeda terrorists lost a base in Afghanistan, but they operate in many other places. We're on their trail, from Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of Africa.

We've also pursued the war on terror in Iraq. America and our coalition removed a regime that built, possessed, and used weapons of mass destruction, a regime that sponsored terror, and a regime that persecuted the Iraqi people.

Al Qaeda and the other global terror networks recognize that the defeat of the Saddam Hussein's regime is a defeat for them. They know that a democratic Iraq, in the heart of the Middle East, would be a further defeat for the ideology of terror.

Building a free and peaceful Iraq will require a substantial commitment of time and resources, the President will work with the Congress to make sure we provide the resources to do the work of freedom and security.

Al Qaeda is wounded, yet not destroyed. It remains a grave danger to the American people. Terrorist networks are still finding recruits, and still plotting attacks, and still intending to strike our country. Yet our resolve is firm and it is clear: No matter how long it takes, we will bring to justice those who plot against America.