11 December 2001
Transcript: Bush Warns Rogue States Against Supporting Terrorism
(Calls them most likely sources of weapons of mass destruction) (3460)
Stopping terrorists from obtaining and using weapons of mass
destruction is America's next priority in the war on terrorism,
President Bush said December 11 in a speech at The Citadel, a military
college in Charleston, South Carolina.
"Above all, we're acting to end the state sponsorship of terror. Rogue
states are clearly the most likely sources of chemical and biological
and nuclear weapons for terrorists," he said.
"Every nation now knows that we cannot accept -- and we will not
accept -- states that harbor, finance, train, or equip the agents of
terror. Those nations that violate this principle will be regarded as
hostile regimes. They have been warned, they are being watched, and
they will be held to account."
"Almost every state that actively sponsors terror, is known to be
seeking weapons of mass destruction, and the missiles to deliver them
at longer and longer ranges," Bush said.
"Their hope is to blackmail the United States into abandoning our war
on terror and forsaking our friends and allies in security commitments
around the world. Our enemies are bound for disappointment. America
will never be blackmailed, and we will never forsake our commitment to
liberty."
Bush said the United States must transform its military capabilities
to fight this new threat, as well as improve its
intelligence-gathering ability. He specifically called for rebuilding
"our network of human intelligence."
He also said that the United States is moving forward with an active
program of missile defense technology "to determine what works and
what does not work."
In order to do so, he said, "we must move beyond" the Anti-Ballistic
Missile (ABM) Treaty signed with the Soviet Union in 1972. That
treaty, which restricts building missile defenses, "was written in a
different era, for a different enemy," Bush said.
But Bush also said the new terrorist threat to civilization "is
erasing" old lines of rivalry and resentment between nations.
Russia and the United States, he said, "are building a new cooperative
relationship. India and the United States are increasingly aligned
across a range of issues, even as we work closely with Pakistan.
Germany and Japan are assuming new military roles, appropriate to
their status as great democracies.
"The vast majority of countries are now on the same side of a moral
and ideological divide. We're making common cause with every nation
that chooses lawful change over chaotic violence -- every nation that
values peace and safety and innocent life."
Following is the transcript:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary (Charleston, South Carolina)
December 11, 2001
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT THE CITADEL
The Citadel, Charleston, South Carolina
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Please be seated. Thank you
for that warm welcome. I'm glad to be back here at the Citadel.
(Applause.)
I have come to talk about the future security of our country, in a
place where I took up this subject two years ago when I was candidate
for President. In September 1999, I said here at the Citadel that
America was entering a period of consequences that would be defined by
the threat of terror, and that we faced a challenge of military
transformation. That threat has now revealed itself, and that
challenge is now the military and moral necessity of our time.
(Applause.)
So, today, I will set forth the commitments essential to victory in
our war against terror.
I want to thank Major General John Grinalds for his hospitality. I
want to thank the Citadel Board of Visitors, the staff, and the
faculty. I understand the Governor is here. And I know my friends, the
Lt. Governor, the Speaker and the Attorney General are here, and it
was great to have seen them at the airport. I thank my friend,
Adjutant General Stan Spears for being here.
I'm grateful that Senator Hollings and members of the South Carolina
congressional delegation flew down on Air Force One. I only wish that
the senior Senator was on the airplane so I could have wished him a
happy 99th birthday. (Applause.)
But most of all, most of all, I want to say how much I appreciate
being in the presence of some of America's finest, the South Carolina
Corp of Cadets of Citadel. (Applause.)
Four days ago, I joined the men and women of the USS Enterprise to
mark the 60th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. December 7th, 1941 was a
decisive day that changed our nation forever. In a single moment,
America's "splendid isolation" was ended. And the four years that
followed transformed the American way of war.
The age of battleships gave way to the offensive capability of
aircraft carriers. The tank, once used only to protect infantry, now
served to cut through enemy lines. At Guadalcanal, and Normandy, and
Iwo Jima, amphibious warfare proved its worth. And by war's end, no
one would ever again doubt the value of strategic air power.
Even more importantly, an American President and his successors shaped
a world beyond a war. They rebuilt Europe with the Marshall Plan,
formed a great alliance for freedom in NATO, and expressed the hope of
collective security in the United Nations. America took the lead,
becoming freedom's defender and assuming responsibilities that only we
could bear.
September 11th, 2001 -- three months and a long time ago -- set
another dividing line in our lives and in the life of our nation. An
illusion of immunity was shattered. A faraway evil became a present
danger. And a great cause became clear: We will fight terror and those
who sponsor it, to save our children from a future of fear.
(Applause.)
To win this war, we have to think differently. The enemy who appeared
on September 11th seeks to evade our strength and constantly searches
for our weaknesses. So America is required once again to change the
way our military thinks and fights. And starting on October 7th, the
enemy in Afghanistan got the first glimpses of a new American military
that cannot, and will not, be evaded. (Applause.)
When I committed U.S. forces to this battle, I had every confidence
that they would be up to the task. And they have proven me right. The
Taliban and the terrorists set out to dominate a country and
intimidate the world. Today, from their caves, it's all looking a
little different. (Applause.) And no cave is deep enough to escape the
patient justice of the United States of America. (Applause.)
We are also beginning to see the possibilities of a world beyond the
war on terror. We have a chance, if we take it, to write a hopeful
chapter in human history. All at once, a new threat to civilization is
erasing old lines of rivalry and resentment between nations. Russia
and America are building a new cooperative relationship. India and the
United States are increasingly aligned across a range of issues, even
as we work closely with Pakistan. Germany and Japan are assuming new
military roles, appropriate to their status as great democracies.
The vast majority of countries are now on the same side of a moral and
ideological divide. We're making common cause with every nation that
chooses lawful change over chaotic violence -- every nation that
values peace and safety and innocent life.
Staring across this divide are bands of murderers, supported by outlaw
regimes. They are a movement defined by their hatreds. They hate
progress, and freedom, and choice, and culture, and music, and
laughter, and women, and Christians, and Jews, and all Muslims who
reject their distorted doctrines. They love only one thing -- they
love power. And when they have it, they use it without mercy.
The great threat to civilization is not that the terrorists will
inspire millions. Only the terrorists themselves would want to live in
their brutal and joyless world. The great threat to civilization is
that a few evil men will multiply their murders, and gain the means to
kill on a scale equal to their hatred. We know they have this mad
intent, and we're determined to stop them.
Our lives, our way of life, and our every hope for the world depend on
a single commitment: The authors of mass murder must be defeated, and
never allowed to gain or use the weapons of mass destruction.
(Applause.)
America and our friends will meet this threat with every method at our
disposal. We will discover and destroy sleeper cells. We will track
terrorist movements, trace their communications, disrupt their
funding, and take their network apart, piece by piece.
Above all, we're acting to end the state sponsorship of terror. Rogue
states are clearly the most likely sources of chemical and biological
and nuclear weapons for terrorists. Every nation now knows that we
cannot accept -- and we will not accept -- states that harbor,
finance, train, or equip the agents of terror. Those nations that
violate this principle will be regarded as hostile regimes. They have
been warned, they are being watched, and they will be held to account.
(Applause.)
Preventing mass terror will be the responsibilities of Presidents far
into the future. And this obligation sets three urgent and enduring
priorities for America. The first priority is to speed the
transformation of our military.
When the Cold War ended, some predicted that the era of direct threats
to our nation was over. Some thought our military would be used
overseas -- not to win wars, but mainly to police and pacify, to
control crowds and contain ethnic conflict. They were wrong.
While the threats to America have changed, the need for victory has
not. (Applause.) We are fighting shadowy, entrenched enemies --
enemies using the tools of terror and guerrilla war -- yet we are
finding new tactics and new weapons to attack and defeat them. This
revolution in our military is only beginning, and it promises to
change the face of battle.
Afghanistan has been a proving ground for this new approach. These
past two months have shown that an innovative doctrine and high-tech
weaponry can shape and then dominate an unconventional conflict. The
brave men and women of our military are rewriting the rules of war
with new technologies and old values like courage and honor. And they
have made this nation proud.
Our commanders are gaining a real-time picture of the entire
battlefield, and are able to get targeting information from sensor to
shooter almost instantly. Our intelligence professionals and special
forces have cooperated in battle-friendly -- with battle-friendly
Afghan forces -- fighters who know the terrain, who know the Taliban,
and who understand the local culture. And our special forces have the
technology to call in precision air strikes -- along with the
flexibility to direct those strikes from horseback, in the first
cavalry charge of the 21st century. (Applause.)
This combination -- real-time intelligence, local allied forces,
special forces, and precision air power -- has really never been used
before. The conflict in Afghanistan has taught us more about the
future of our military than a decade of blue ribbon panels and
think-tank symposiums.
The Predator is a good example. This unmanned aerial vehicle is able
to circle over enemy forces, gather intelligence, transmit information
instantly back to commanders, then fire on targets with extreme
accuracy.
Before the war, the Predator had skeptics, because it did not fit the
old ways. Now it is clear the military does not have enough unmanned
vehicles. We're entering an era in which unmanned vehicles of all
kinds will take on greater importance -- in space, on land, in the
air, and at sea.
Precision-guided munitions also offer great promise. In the Gulf War,
these weapons were the exception -- while in Afghanistan, they have
been the majority of the munitions we have used. We're striking with
greater effectiveness, at greater range, with fewer civilian
casualties. More and more, our weapons can hit moving targets. When
all of our military can continuously locate and track moving targets
-- with surveillance from air and space -- warfare will be truly
revolutionized.
The need for military transformation was clear before the conflict in
Afghanistan, and before September the 11th. Here at the Citadel in
1999, I spoke of keeping the peace by redefining war on our terms. The
same recommendation was made in the strategic review that Secretary
Rumsfeld briefed me on last August -- a review that I fully endorse.
What's different today is our sense of urgency -- the need to build
this future force while fighting a present war. It's like overhauling
an engine while you're going at 80 miles an hour. Yet we have no other
choice.
Our military has a new and essential mission. For states that support
terror, it's not enough that the consequences be costly -- they must
be devastating. (Applause.) The more credible this reality, the more
likely that regimes will change their behavior -- making it less
likely that America and our friends will need to use overwhelming
force against them.
To build our future force, the Armed Services must continue to attract
America's best people, with good pay and good living conditions. Our
military culture must reward new thinking, innovation, and
experimentation. Congress must give defense leaders the freedom to
innovate, instead of micromanaging the Defense Department. And every
service and every constituency of our military must be willing to
sacrifice some of their own pet projects. Our war on terror cannot be
used to justify obsolete bases, obsolete programs, or obsolete weapon
systems. Every dollar of defense spending must meet a single test: It
must help us build the decisive power we will need to win the wars of
the future. (Applause.)
Our country is united in supporting a great cause -- and in supporting
those who fight for it. We will give our men and women in uniform
every resource, every weapon, every tool they need to win the long
battle that lies ahead.
America's next priority to prevent mass terror is to protect against
the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means to
deliver them. I wish I could report to the American people that this
threat does not exist -- that our enemy is content with car bombs and
box cutters -- but I cannot.
One former al Qaeda member has testified in court that he was involved
in an effort 10 years ago to obtain nuclear materials. And the leader
of al Qaeda calls that effort "a religious duty." Abandoned al Qaeda
houses in Kabul contained diagrams for crude weapons of mass
destruction. And as we all know, terrorists have put anthrax into the
U.S. mail, and used sarin gas in a Tokyo subway.
And almost every state that actively sponsors terror is known to be
seeking weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them
at longer and longer ranges. Their hope is to blackmail the United
States into abandoning our war on terror, and forsaking our friends
and allies and security commitments around the world. Our enemies are
bound for disappointment. America will never be blackmailed, and we
will never forsake our commitment to liberty. (Applause.)
To meet our new threats, I have directed my National Security Advisor
and my Homeland Security Director to develop a comprehensive strategy
on proliferation. Working with other countries, we will strengthen
nonproliferation treaties and toughen export controls. Together, we
must keep the world's most dangerous technologies out of the hands of
the world's most dangerous people.
A crucial partner in this effort is Russia -- a nation we are helping
to dismantle strategic weapons, reduce nuclear material, and increase
security at nuclear sites. Our two countries will expand efforts to
provide peaceful employment for scientists who formerly worked in
Soviet weapons facilities. The United States will also work with
Russia to build a facility to destroy tons of nerve agent. I'll
request an over-all increase in funding to support this vital mission.
Even as we fight to prevent proliferation, we must prepare for every
possibility. At home, we must be better prepared to detect, protect
against, and respond to the potential use of weapons of mass
destruction. Abroad, our military forces must have the ability to
fight and win against enemies who would use such weapons against us.
Biodefense has become a major initiative of ours. This year we've
already requested nearly $3 billion additional dollars for biodefense,
more than doubling the level of funding prior to September the 11th.
The attacks on our nation made it even more clear that we need to
build limited and effective defenses against a missile attack.
(Applause.) Our enemies seek every chance and every means to do harm
to our country, our forces, and our friends. And we will not permit
it.
Suppose the Taliban and the terrorists had been able to strike America
or important allies with a ballistic missile. Our coalition would have
become fragile, the stakes in our war much, much higher. We must
protect Americans and our friends against all forms of terror,
including the terror that could arrive on a missile.
Last week we conducted another promising test of our missile defense
technology. For the good of peace, we're moving forward with an active
program to determine what works and what does not work. In order to do
so, we must move beyond the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a
treaty that was written in a different era, for a different enemy.
(Applause.)
America and our allies must not be bound to the past. We must be able
to build the defenses we need against the enemies of the 21st century.
Our third and final priority in the fight against mass terror is to
strengthen the advantage that good intelligence gives our country.
Every day I make decisions influenced by the intelligence briefing of
that morning. To reach decisions, a President needs more than data and
information. A President needs real and current knowledge and analysis
of the plans, intentions, and capabilities of our enemies.
The last several months have shown that there is no substitute for
good intelligence officers, people on the ground. These are the people
who find the targets, follow our enemies, and help us disrupt their
evil plans.
The United States must rebuild our network of human intelligence.
(Applause.) And we will apply the best new technology to gather
intelligence on the new threats. Sophisticated systems like Global
Hawk, an unmanned surveillance plane, are transforming our
intelligence capabilities. Our technological strengths produce great
advantages, and we will build on them.
Our intelligence services and federal law enforcement agencies must
work more closely together, and share timely information with our
state and local authorities. The more we know, the more terrorist
plans we can prevent and disrupt, and the better we'll be able to
protect the American people.
And in all they do, our intelligence agencies must attract the best
people -- the best collectors, the best analysts, the best linguists.
We will give them the training they need and the compensation they
deserve.
There have been times here in America when our intelligence services
were held in suspicion, and even contempt. Now, when we face this new
war, we know how much we need them. And for their dedication and for
their service, America is grateful. (Applause.)
We're also grateful to you, the students of the Citadel. Your uniforms
symbolize a tradition of honor and sacrifice, renewed in your own
lives. Many of you will enter our military -- taking your place in the
war against terror. That struggle may continue for many years, and it
may bring great costs. But you will have chosen a great calling at a
crucial hour for our nation.
The course we follow is a matter of profound consequence to many
nations. If America wavers, the world will lose heart. If America
leads, the world will show its courage. America will never waver.
America will lead the world to peace. (Applause.) Our cause is
necessary. Our cause is just. And no matter how long it takes, we will
defeat the enemies of freedom. (Applause.)
In all that is to come, I know the graduates of the Citadel will bring
credit to America, to the military, and to this great institution. In
the words of your school song, you will go where you've always gone --
"in the paths our fathers showed us. Peace and Honor, God and Country
-- we will fight for thee."
God bless. (Applause.)
END 2:23 P.M. EST
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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