15 August 2002
Bush Says U.S. Making Progress in War on Terror
(Speaks August 15 at Mount Rushmore, South Dakota) (1280)
The United States is making good progress in its fight to rid the
world of terrorists and will continue the effort as long as needed,
President Bush said August 15 in a speech at the Mount Rushmore
National Memorial in South Dakota.
"It doesn't matter how long it takes as far as I'm concerned. There's
no cave deep enough. We're going to hunt them down. You see, history
has called us. History has put the spotlight on America. We're the
beacon of freedom, we're the bastion of freedom, and we're the
protectors of freedom as far as I'm concerned," Bush said.
Mount Rushmore contains the larger-than-life sculpted likenesses of
Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and
Abraham Lincoln, memorializing the first 150 years of the United
States.
"By being firm and strong and diligent, we'll bring peace not only to
our own children and their children, but we can bring peace to the
Middle East and peace to South Asia," the President said. "We have a
fantastic chance to take the evil done to our country and turn it into
good for worldly peace."
In his remarks, the President urged the U.S. Congress to get to his
desk as soon as possible a defense appropriations bill, and
legislation he proposed to create a new Homeland Security Department
in the federal government.
The Mount Rushmore speech concluded a two-day trip by Bush to the
Middle West that included August 14 visits to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and
Des Moines, Iowa. Bush then returned to his ranch in Texas, where he
is spending the month of August on a working vacation.
Following is an excerpt from the Mount Rushmore speech:
(begin excerpt)
"But the best way to protect the homeland, the best way to make sure
our children can grow up free is to hunt the killers down one by one
and bring them to justice. This is a different kind of war than we're
used to. This isn't a war where these infantries go marching across
the plains or hide in hedgerows or formations of aircraft go streaming
across our skies. This is a war where leaders hide in caves and send
youngsters to their suicidal death. That's the kind of war we're
fighting. It requires a new way of thinking, a new attitude. It
requires our military to be trained in a way that can go into -- to
move quickly and be agile, be lethal when they strike.
It doesn't matter how long it takes as far as I'm concerned. There's
no cave deep enough. We're going to hunt them down. You see, history
has called us. History has put the spotlight in America. We're the
beacon of freedom, we're the bastion of freedom, and we're the
protectors of freedom as far as I'm concerned.
I submitted a significant increase in our defense spending -- it's the
biggest increase since Ronald Reagan was the President -- for two
reasons. Any time we put our troops in harm's way, they've got to have
the best training, the best pay, the best equipment possible. We owe
that to our troops, who are performing brilliantly, by the way. We
also owe it to their moms and dads and their husbands and wives and
their loved ones.
But the other reason I submitted a significant increase in defense
spending is because I want the message to be loud and clear to our
friends and foe alike, that we're not quitting, that the United States
of America understands the challenge; that, no matter how long it
takes, we're going to defend our freedoms.
And we're making pretty good progress. We're making pretty darned good
progress.
I laid out a doctrine that said, if you harbor a terrorist or you feed
one of them, you're just as guilty as the terrorists, and the Taliban
found out exactly what we meant. But I want -- I want the youngsters
here to understand that, when we went into that country, we went in as
liberators, not as conquerors. We freed people from the clutches of a
barbaric regime and, thanks to the United States and our friends and
allies, many young girls now go to school for the first time in their
lives.
History will note that we didn't hit and run, that we stayed there. We
stayed there to not only make sure that al Qaeda doesn't bunch up
again, but we stayed there to help this country, Afghanistan,
flourish. We believe in democracies. We believe every child should
have a chance to realize his or her dreams. We believe in peace.
I think we've hauled in over 2000 of the enemy -- "we" being all kinds
of people -- (applause) -- the Philippines and Spain. Of course, the
United States. We're making pretty good progress. We're getting them
one by one. Sometimes, you'll read about it, sometimes you won't. This
isn't a very dramatic war as far as TV goes.
But we're making dramatic progress, is the best way to put it. And, by
the way, about equal a number of the people weren't quite as lucky as
those who were captured.
And we got a lot of work to do, we've got a lot of work to do. And
that's why this budget I submitted is a significant budget. The House
passed its version, the Senate passed its version. They've now got to
get together as quickly as possible, as soon as possible, and get the
defense appropriations bill to my desk nearly upon arrival. In other
words, as soon as they get back from the recess, I need to sign the
bill so we can plan for the war.
I hope you can tell that I'm an optimistic person. I'm an optimistic
person because I understand America. I understand the strengths of
America. I know we're going to prevail in this war on terror. And, as
we do so, I believe, as sure as I'm standing here, we're going to
bring peace to parts of the world that haven't dreamt about peace in a
long time.
By being firm and strong and diligent, we'll bring peace not only to
our own children and their children, but we can bring peace to the
Middle East and peace to South Asia. No, we have a fantastic chance to
take the evil done to our country and turn it into good for worldly
peace.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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