05 September 2002
Wolfowitz: "The Future Does Not Belong To Terrorists"
(DOD official calls for bridging gap between West and Muslim world)
(5480)
Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says terrorism is "the single
greatest threat to peace and security in our time," but that "the
future does not belong to terrorists."
Instead, he said, the future belongs to those individuals, regardless
of their religion "who dream the oldest and noblest dream of all: the
dream of peace and freedom."
Wolfowitz, who made his remarks at the Brookings Institution September
5 as part of a discussion on how the world has changed since the
September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, observed that
what happens in the U.S. "cannot fail to have its impact on the rest
of the world."
He also pointed to another dimension of the ongoing war against
terrorism, which he characterized as "the war of ideas -- the struggle
over modernity and secularism, pluralism and democracy, and real
economic development."
"There are hundreds of millions of Muslims who aspire to modernity,
freedom, and prosperity," he said, "who are in reality, themselves on
the frontlines of the struggle against terrorism." In some cases,
Wolfowitz said, terrorists target other Muslims "upon whom they aim to
impose a new kind of violent tyranny -- a tyranny that pretends to be
based on Islam, but which owes more to the totalitarian impulses of
the 20th century than to the great religion the terrorists are
attempting to hijack."
He talked about "a collision of misunderstanding between the Muslim
and Western worlds," producing "a dangerous gap" between the two. "We
must bridge this gap and we must do it now," the deputy defense
secretary said, adding that doing so involves "helping to expose the
lies at the heart of the terrorists' methods and convincing their
potential followers that theirs in a blind alley leading to defeat and
ignominy." Exposure, Wolfowitz said, means offering better
alternatives, such as those of liberty and justice.
In the struggle against "enemies of tolerance and freedom," he said,
an appeal must be made to "those voices struggling to rise above the
din of extremism, voices that tell us the Islam of Muhammad is not the
religion of bin Laden and suicide bombers." He expressed his
conviction that "the vast majority of the world's Muslims have no use
for the extreme doctrines espoused by groups such as al-Qaida or the
Taliban." While saying moderate Muslim voices must be encouraged, he
also acknowledged that the debate about Muslim values "must take place
among Muslims."
Wolfowitz also made the following points about Afghanistan, Turkey and
Indonesia:
-- The U.S. mission in Afghanistan "is one of liberation, not
occupation" with an emphasis on helping the Afghans "provide their own
stability and security."
-- Returning Afghan refugees "could place new strains on a still
tenuous food supply this winter, but we are no longer worried about
widespread starvation."
-- "Turkey offers an important model to the Muslim world as it embarks
on its own road to representative government."
-- By helping bolster Turkish reform efforts and helping the country
continue to succeed, America and Europe amplify the message to the
Muslim and developing worlds that Turkey "is the model to emulate."
-- Indonesia's support for the campaign against terrorism has been
significant.
-- If the U.S. is serious about its opposition to terrorism, it also
must be serious about helping Indonesia in its quest for a stable
democracy and economy.
(begin text)
Remarks Prepared for Delivery
By Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz
Brookings Institution
Washington, DC
Thursday, September 5, 2002.
"Building a Better World: One Path from Crisis to Opportunity"
Thank you, Strobe [Talbott]. Congratulations on your new post as
president of Brookings. Your long record of service and intellectual
contributions to the public debate have made their marks on policy.
That is something I know that you will continue to do here at
Brookings.
In my last job at SAIS [School of Advanced International Studies), I
wasn't supposed to say nice things about our neighbors at
Brookings.... But, now I can. That's something I'm delighted to do --
especially because Brookings is doing something very important with
this series-putting September 11th and its aftermath into context.
I know there are some here this morning with great expectations. Big
hopes that I will put at least one topic into context. On that score,
you'll be happy to know, I plan to take bold, preemptive action. That
got your attention. I will refer to my boss, [Defense Secretary]
Donald Rumsfeld, who did a masterful job of putting so much into
context in his press briefing on Tuesday [September 3], especially
when he said this about a particular regime -- I think you can guess
which one. He said, and I quote: It has "not been playing
tiddly-winks."
If you missed Tuesday's briefing, you missed one of the all-time great
briefings. Now, they're all great, but he was in especially fine form
on Tuesday. And knowing there'd be a few media folks here today, I
decided to ask Rumsfeld himself for a few pointers. So this morning
before I left, I said to him, "You handle the press pretty well. Is
there anything I should keep in mind over at Brookings? There may be a
few media folks around." And he said, "There's no question but that
whatever you do, don't try to be hard-hitting, clever or witty. In
other words, don't try to be me. Just be yourself."
I could see he was warming to the subject -- his hands were getting
animated. He said, "Here's how you deal with the media. Begin with an
illogical premise and proceed perfectly logically to an illogical
conclusion. They do it all the time. But, if you do it first ...
they'll be eviscerated!"
Of course, eviscerated is that famous word that passed the lips of one
of our Marine generals who had the Taliban stomped a few weeks ahead
of their time. To that, my hard-charging Marine military assistant
quickly added, "We Marines may not know how to spell eviscerated, but
we sure know how to do it."
In the vein of people who know how to do things and do them well, I
must say that I cannot think of a more inspired time to be a part of
America's national security team: It has been a distinct privilege to
serve with President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Colin Powell, Condi
Rice, Rich Armitage and Don Rumsfeld. If the American people were in
my shoes, I know they would be enormously proud of how this team is
pursuing this nation's noblest aims.
And that gets to me the point of my speech today. I know that even if
I don't talk about a particular regime today most of you will still
have an interest in what I have to say, or at least humor me. Now that
is really why I appreciate this crowd in particular.
Today, just a week shy of the first anniversary of the attacks, I
think you'll agree that it is appropriate to take this opportunity to
go beyond the headlines to get some altitude and some perspective on
the situation we face today.
On that Tuesday last September, there was one American who looked on
the aftermath of the attacks from a great altitude -- literally --
from a vantage point some 250 miles above the earth's surface. Aboard
the International Space Station, Frank Culbertson and his Russian
crewmembers could clearly make out the plume of smoke that wafted so
insistently from the site of the World Trade Center. Later, they would
see a black shroud envelope the Pentagon. Just a day later, Culbertson
would reflect that what they observed so clearly from space certainly
signaled a dramatically changed world below.
Meanwhile, here on earth, Shafeeq Ghabra, a Palestinian and a
professor of political science at Kuwait University, was directing
Kuwait's public information center here in Washington last September
11th. Three weeks before, he had visited the World Trade Center with
his family and taken photos of his seven-year-old son there. Looking
back on the attack from the distance of almost a year, he observed
last week in the New York Times that "a small number of Muslims killed
a much larger number of Muslims" in New York.
Each person's view of what happened that day -- an American in space
and an Arab Muslim in America -- in its way captures a fundamental
truth: what happens in the United States cannot fail to have its
impact on the rest of the world. It certainly was no mistake that the
World Trade Center, a symbol and hub of America's economic dynamism,
was a target. And when the American market was damaged, shock waves
reverberated -- they rumble still -- around the globe. But, the
attacks also shined a searchlight of truth on the true intentions of
the terrorists. For as Shafeeq Ghabra has pointed out, the terrorists
seek to target not just America, but Muslims and Islam -- by
destroying the ideals of tolerance, justice and openness as they apply
to Muslims the world over. If the terrorists are successful in
destroying these ideals, East and West alike will suffer.
As I have been pointing out to audiences since that day, the
terrorists target their fellow Muslims, upon whom they aim to impose a
new kind of violent tyranny -- a tyranny that pretends to be based on
Islam, but which owes more to the totalitarian impulses of the 20th
century than to the great religion the terrorists are attempting to
hijack. The hundreds of millions of Muslims who aspire to modernity,
freedom, and prosperity are, in reality, themselves on the frontlines
of the struggle against terrorism.
Afghanistan
Nowhere was this struggle more evident than in Afghanistan, where
totalitarian brutality, imposed by the Taliban, offered sanctuary to
terrorists with their own radically backward and chauvinistic
distortion of Islam.
The United States mobilized against this grave threat, and we now
fight a war on terror. This is a war that we will win. But, we also
must fight the much larger war that was exposed last September. And
this is a war, too, that we must win. This larger struggle is part of
another dimension of the war -- a dimension the President addressed in
his State of the Union message, but one that does not get emphasized
enough. That larger war we face is the war of ideas -- the struggle
over modernity and secularism, pluralism and democracy, and real
economic development. In his State of the Union message, President
Bush declared that in this fight, "America will lead by defending
liberty and justice because they are right and true and unchanging for
all people everywhere.... We have a greater objective than eliminating
threats and containing resentment. We seek a just and peaceful world
beyond the war on terror."
Part of building that just and peaceful world the President envisions
lies in the next steps we must take in that larger struggle. For what
we have before us today is less a clash of civilizations, as some have
theorized, than a collision of misunderstanding between the Muslim and
Western worlds.
I would quickly add that my view on the subject of East and West, one
that has been shaped by almost two decades of personal experience, is
decidedly optimistic. But, that does not mean that I can't see a truth
that we must confront today: So let me be clear: there is a dangerous
gap between the West and the Muslim world. We must bridge this gap and
we must do it now.
Part of bridging this gap is helping to expose the lies at the heart
of the terrorists' methods and convincing their potential followers
that theirs is a blind alley leading to defeat and ignominy. Part of
exposing this blind alley is to offer a better alternative. The
alternatives of liberty and justice, as President Bush has said ...
fundamental pillars in a just and peaceful world.
When it comes to certain countries and individuals around the world,
we may be a long way from that better alternative. But, that is all
the more reason why we need to bridge the dangerous gap now.
The arena where we will most readily be judged in how we narrow the
gap is Afghanistan -- and that is one of the reasons why it is so
important that we succeed there. As we look at Afghanistan 11 months
after the war on terrorism began, we see, quite frankly, a mixture of
good news and bad news. I think some of the bad news has been
exaggerated and is in danger of drowning out the fundamentally
remarkable news that the country has been unbelievably transformed in
less than a year. There are still a great many problems that remain to
be solved, but that is hardly surprising in a country that has
suffered from 23 years of brutal invasion and civil war.
We can't expect to solve all the problems of the last two and a half
decades overnight -- and there are many -- and we are quite attuned to
the existing challenges. But, on the whole, I would say that, over the
last 11 months, there has been much more good news in Afghanistan than
bad. The Afghan people have been liberated. The Taliban is out of
power, and -- along with portions of al-Qaida -- they are killed, or
dispersed and on the run. This fact alone has paved the way for other
significant developments, some of which are transforming the landscape
in that war-torn region, both literally and figuratively.
Before last September, the U.N. warned that more than 5 million
Afghans, some of whom were surviving on cattle feed, grass and
insects, were facing death without immediate help. It's worth noting
that even before last September, the United States was the largest
contributor of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan. When military
operations began last October, humanitarian efforts were an integral
part of our military missions from the very beginning. The UN World
Food Program, supported by the U.S. government, provided 575,000
metric tons of food to almost 10 million Afghans -- including record
amounts of food during the coalition bombing campaign. Today the
picture is vastly different. Famine has been averted, and refugees
have returned in record numbers to Afghanistan. That success presents
a new challenge -- the returning refugees could place new strains on a
still-tenuous food supply this winter, but we are no longer worried
about widespread starvation.
In coordination with the great work being done by USAID [U.S. Agency
for International Development] and the UN, our soldiers have pitched
in and, with Afghan labor, have built 50 schools. That means that some
62,000 more children -- boys and girls -- youngsters whose first
lessons taught them that the sound of gunfire was a natural part of
life, can now go to school and learn new lessons, dream new dreams.
And that is certainly one of the most far-reaching ways we can help
these young Afghans build their own better world. A Ministry of
Women's Affairs is up and running, in itself a counterpoint to the old
regime as stark as anything that might have been imagined a year ago.
And President Karzai recently promoted Afghanistan's only remaining
female Air Force parachutist to the rank of general. Farmers have
returned to their fields, and, with the help of U.S. seed programs,
crop production has increased some 82 percent over last year.
Our troops on the ground are making a direct contribution to
Afghanistan's future, implementing humanitarian projects across the
country that include repairing hospitals, digging wells, and repairing
irrigation canals. All told, some 18,000 Afghans have gone to work in
various projects.
So, as the social infrastructure gets slowly rebuilt, so too does the
political framework. In another encouraging development, the Loya
Jirga, or Grand Council, elected Hamid Karzai president of the
two-year transitional government in a process based on traditional
principles of representation, ethnic balance, accountability and
legitimacy. One senior advisor to Karzai said that, for the first time
in more than 20 years, the people of Afghanistan are acquiring a
voice. But, now, we must empower the Afghan government, whose
ministries are weak and whose governmental coffers hold less than a
third of what their modest budget requires. And we must reinforce
President Karzai's popular mandate with enough resources to fulfill
promises to the Afghan people.
A crucial factor in sustaining representative government in
Afghanistan is, first and foremost, sustaining a stable and secure
environment in which such a government can gain a firm hold and
ultimately flourish. The United States is deeply engaged with the
Afghan Transitional Authority and the international community on this
task -- to include training of the Afghan National Army, which our
soldiers have embarked on with their typical vigor and efficiency.
The recently graduated battalions of the Afghan National Army
represent a critical first step toward the formation of a national
security force, along with police and border guards. As you may know,
we now have people from the State Department in some of the provincial
areas teaming up with our Special Forces to help encourage harmony
among the regional leaders and between regional leaders and the
central government. Our people help mediate disputes, smooth over
conflicts and thus play an unheralded but pivotal role in supporting
Afghanistan's political equilibrium.
Security, although not perfect, is vastly better than it was a year
ago. The security situation in Afghanistan is not collapsing. The
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul, under the
able leadership of the British and the Turks, has played an important
role in this regard. It is important to remember that the original
business of ISAF was to prevent this city, which is the capital of all
Afghans, from being dominated by a single ethnic group, a development
which in the mid-1990s contributed to the rise of the Taliban. ISAF
has been accomplishing that mission successfully and we are in the
process of identifying a new lead nation to take over when Turkey's
term expires in December 2002.
There are some suggestions that expanding ISAF beyond Kabul may be a
good thing also. We do not oppose ISAF expansion. I think there are
some benefits that could come from using ISAF in ways outside the
capital that would include patrolling, training the Afghan National
Army, police, and border guard forces, and "buddying-up" with
graduated Afghan National Army battalions. We welcome and support
these developments and encourage the international community to
provide the leadership and resources necessary to make it happen. At
the same time that we consider a new and possibly larger role for
ISAF, the highest priority has to go to sustaining it in its current
mission.
We must also help reconstruct a stable economy. And the first step is
economic assistance. I cannot underscore enough just how important
such assistance is, not only for the economy, but for security as
well: the more resources that flow through the country and Kabul, the
more readily we can ease discontent and increase everyone's stake in
the new institutions. Once a major transit point along the fabled Silk
Road, Afghanistan can once again become an important hub in regional
trade. That will happen through the resourcefulness of the Afghan
people, which exists in abundance, with adequate roads -- which
clearly must be rebuilt, and with international economic assistance --
which we need in abundance. Leadership through the State Department
helped secure pledges of economic assistance through the organization
of the Tokyo Donors Conference.
Having said that, our single biggest concern is that the economic aid
is not coming through at the levels pledged in Tokyo. Quite simply,
some of our donor allies are not giving their fair share. In fact,
only a little more than 30 percent of the $1.8 billion ($1,800
thousand million) pledged for the first year has been delivered. Most
of that money went to humanitarian assistance projects and many
Afghans are still waiting for "real" reconstruction to begin.
But, as positive cash flow only trickles in, potential for risks
promises to grow exponentially. Winter approaches, and for refugees
who returned from Pakistan and Iran -- some 1.6 million, the largest
return of refugees in modern history -- their gamble on the pledges of
the international community could, but should not, mean disaster. The
United States is now the predominant supporter of the multilateral
relief and recovery effort -- and we are glad to lead the way. But, we
can't do it alone. So, to those who have promised their support, I
would offer the college student's familiar plea: send money now!
Looking ahead, another reason why this assistance is so important is
that, as I suggested, over time, it will help create the kind of
incentives that help bind the country together -- giving regional
leaders a stake in the system and gradually building national
institutions. We certainly do not support forces that would seek to
destabilize Afghanistan's legitimate national institutions. We support
President Karzai and the Afghan Transitional Authority, and we
continue to look for ways to help Afghanistan build a secure and
unified future.
Our emphasis is on helping Afghans establish the means to provide
their own stability and security. That is because our mission in
Afghanistan is one of liberation, not occupation.
We know full well that we have a big stake in Afghanistan's success.
We remember the steep price there was to pay when Afghanistan was a
failed state. Having come this far, and done so much, we will not walk
away.
Turkey
As the situation in Afghanistan improves, it is encouraging to note
that there have also been some very important positive developments in
other areas of the Muslim world in the last couple of months. Although
these developments haven't gotten the sort of media attention that the
arrests of individual terrorists and the uncovering of new plots
typically garner, they will prove in the long run far more important
in building lasting peace. In the same way that we must acknowledge
what's wrong in order to progress forward, it is equally important
that we recognize what is right. That recognition itself is a form of
encouragement to recognize true progress and accomplishment.
A country that occupies one of history's great strategic crossroads
has, through a recent series of reforms, put itself at a historic
crossroads as well. Last month, Turkey's parliament adopted truly
groundbreaking reforms to meet requirements necessary for membership
in the European Union. Turkey addressed broad political reform by
granting television, radio broadcasting and education rights in
Kurdish and other regional dialects. It also granted certain
non-Muslim religious orders the right to own property; broadened
freedom of expression; stiffened penalties for illegal migration,
changed its death penalty statues and recognized the jurisdiction of
European supranational bodies.
Turkey's economy minister rightly summarized these reforms as "a huge
mobilization in favor of Europe." Should Turkey be allowed to join the
EU [European Union], it will, in fact, be a mobilization in favor of
us all. Through the years, Turkey has been one of America's most
steadfast allies, quickly offering support after the attacks last
September, including ground forces in Afghanistan. And Turkey carries
out another tough responsibility today as the leader of the
International Security Assistance Force in Kabul following the Brits'
six-month duty. But, Turkey's leadership goes far beyond its role as
soldiers and peacekeepers.
Turkey's aspiration to join the EU is one that should be welcomed by
all people who share the values of freedom and democracy. Europeans
may grow weary of having Americans tell them about the importance of
bringing Turkey into the EU. But, especially in light of Turkey's
latest reforms, what is at stake is more than just the usual technical
process of EU accession. It goes back to my point about the struggle
of ideas: For in the long run, the way to defeat extremism is to
demonstrate that the values that we call Western are indeed universal;
to demonstrate that the benefits we enjoy -- the benefits of a free
and prosperous and open society-- are available to all Muslims. Never
has our stake in Turkey been greater.
Turkey offers an important model to the Muslim world as it embarks on
its own road to representative government. As the great American
scholar of Turkish history, Bernard Lewis, has observed, Turkey's
experience shows that democracy is difficult but also that it is
possible.
History attests that fashioning and sustaining democracy and free
markets can be a difficult undertaking. In the West, it took
centuries. But, Turkey charted its course through the 20th century
with enormous courage and determination. Now it is positioning itself
for the 21st Century. Its historic commitment to modernity and
moderation is vindicated. America and Europe can bolster Turkey and
help it continue to succeed. In so doing, we amplify the message that
its success sends to the rest of the Muslim world, and indeed to the
developing world as a whole: this is the model to emulate.
Indonesia
Indonesia is another important example of a country seeking to build a
democratic government based on a culture of inclusion and
participation, even in the face of its extraordinary diversity and
enormous economic obstacles. And like Turkey, Indonesia has chosen to
take bold steps to continue moving forward.
In fact, in the last year alone, Indonesia has arguably made more
progress towards democratic reform than in its 57-year history.
Indonesia's highest legislative body recently passed a series of
amendments to its constitution that further solidify its democratic
transition.
As important as those amendments that were passed is one that was not.
Although some religious parties had requested that Islamic law, or
sharia, be made Indonesia's national law, the national legislature
rejected the measure --overwhelmingly. In so doing, they confirmed the
powerful belief in religious tolerance that is shared by the great
majority of Muslims and non-Muslims alike in the country that has the
largest Muslim population of any in the world.
In a visit to Indonesia last month, Secretary of State Colin Powell
praised Indonesia's support for the war on terror, which has been
significant, and, importantly, he encouraged Indonesia to step up the
pace of its legal reforms -- which will help encourage investors. His
visit helped move our two nations closer to normal
military-to-military cooperation-a step that ultimately will pave the
way to more effective dealing with the threats posed by terrorists.
Secretary Powell and Indonesian leaders, including President Megawati,
discussed how the Indonesian armed forces would improve not only their
military effectiveness, but their professionalism, through reforms
that would safeguard against human rights abuses. That would be the
aims of our cooperation.
My three years as U.S. ambassador to Indonesia gave me the unique
opportunity to study and appreciate that beautiful country, its
people, its rich cultures and its tradition of tolerance. My
experiences there and in the years since have strengthened my
appreciation of the common ground shared by East and West. Many people
do not realize that Indonesia's Muslim majority makes it the largest
Muslim country in the world. But even many who know that do not know
that Islam is not the state religion, that the state accords equal
status to the five major religions of its people.
There is every reason to believe that Indonesia, with its own
traditions and culture, can move forward, because when people are free
to work and keep what they produce, they work hard and organize
creatively. And if we are serious about opposing terrorism, we also
must be serious about helping Indonesia in its quest for a stable
democracy and a stable economy.
Reaching out to individuals
Again, while we wage the war on terror, we are mindful of the larger
war I spoke of earlier - the struggle against enemies of tolerance and
freedom the world over. One tool we have in this struggle is our
ability to reach out beyond governments to people and individuals. We
must appeal to broad populations --especially those voices struggling
to rise above the din of extremism, voices that tell us the Islam of
Muhammad is not the religion of bin Laden and suicide bombers.
I am convinced that the vast majority of the world's Muslims have no
use for the extreme doctrines espoused by groups such as al-Qaida or
the Taliban. Very much to the contrary. They abhor terrorism. They
abhor terrorists who have not only hijacked airplanes, but have
attempted to hijack one of the world's great religions. They have
absolutely no use for people who deny fundamental rights to women or
who indoctrinate children with superstition and hatred.
In winning this larger struggle, it would be a mistake to think that
we could be the ones to lead the way. But, we must do what we can to
encourage the moderate Muslim voices. This is a debate about Muslim
values that must take place among Muslims. But, it makes a difference
when we recognize and encourage those who are defending universal
values. And, when we give them moral support against the opposition
they encounter, we are indeed helping to strengthen the foundations
for peace.
When Egypt sentenced human rights campaigner Saad Eddin Ibrahim to
seven years in prison, apparently for efforts to promote democracy,
President Bush expressed concerns about Dr. Ibrahim's case directly to
President Mubarak. As you know, President Bush also recently turned
down requests for additional aid beyond the Camp David accords. And
the State Department will continue to press our concerns with the
Egyptian authorities.
When the American and noted Muslim scholar, Shayk Muhammed Hisham
Kabbani, spoke at a State Department-sponsored panel on terrorism in
January, 1999, he addressed what he called "the authentic, traditional
voice of Islam ... which is moderation and tolerance and love ... and
living in peace with all other faiths and religions." He went on [to]
caution that there was, at that time, an imminent threat of
catastrophic terrorist attack on American soil by Islamic extremists.
Following his message, some Muslim organizations here in the United
States publicly condemned him for "false and defamatory allegations
against the Muslim community" and organized a boycott against him.
Learning, tolerance, and progress - these are qualities that
extremists today consider subversive.
In the same article I mentioned at the opening, Kuwaiti political
science professor Shafeeq Ghabra describes studying here in the United
States in the 1970s, a time when he'd been influenced by the
anti-American slogans popular at the time. But, Ghabra's American
professors surprised him with their tolerance. And "tolerance," he
wrote, "even without accepting the other view, does have a moderating
power on people and permits for the repetition of the cycle of
understanding. Tolerance breeds tolerance. As a professor of political
science at Kuwait University," he says, "I practice my old professor's
technique on my own fundamentalist students."
This past Tuesday, an Egyptian-born resident of the United States
reflected in the New York Times on what we might call the dangerous
gap between her view of Islam and that of fellow-Egyptian Mohammed
Atta, one of the hijackers. Mona Eltahawy's Islam embodies tolerance
and acceptance of others, a view that questions why Atta, allegedly in
the name of Islam, was filled with such hatred. She writes of the
debate here in America about how Islam fits into modern society, also
noting that she is "saddened that such a debate has not taken off with
much vigor in other parts of the world." But, Eltahawy concludes that
the debate must continue, for, as she puts it, "only by reclaiming our
own voice can we silence the zealots."
In his State of the Union address, President Bush spoke powerfully of
"brave men and women" who do raise their voices to advocate the values
of "human dignity, free speech, equal justice, respect for women and
religious tolerance." They are out there, as we have seen. The system
will progress only when we all become truly serious about supporting
and encouraging these voices -- abroad and here at home.
I have spent a good deal of my career, some 20 years, thinking about
East and West. And my experiences have convinced me that East and West
share common ground. And it is on this ground that we can build the
ancient dream of peace and freedom -- prosperity and security -- a
dream that we share. On this ground we can build a better world, one
that proceeds on a path from crisis to opportunity.
A year after the horrific attacks on America, we can affirm this
truth: The single greatest threat to peace and freedom in our time is
terrorism. So this truth we should also affirm: the future does not
belong to terrorists. The future belongs to those, no matter their
creed, who dream the oldest and noblest dream of all, the dream of
peace and freedom. The future belongs to those who labor, with courage
and commitment, to build a better world.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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