Remarks in Canton, Ohio

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 9, 2004

Yesterday in Cleveland, Ohio, at the International Children's Games, I was able to hug and say hello to a young girls" soccer team from Afghanistan. That wouldn't have happened 3 years ago. Because we acted, Afghanistan is an ally in the war on terror. Because we acted, America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, Pakistan was a safe transit point for terrorists. Today, Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror. Pakistani forces are aggressively helping to round up terrorists, and America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, in Saudi Arabia, terrorists were raising money and recruiting and operating with little opposition. Today, the Saudi Government is taking the fight to Al Qaida, and America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, Libya was spending millions to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Today, because America and our allies have sent a strong and clear message, the leader of Libya has abandoned his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction; America and the world are safer.

Before September the 11th, the ruler of Iraq was a sworn enemy of America. He was defying the world. He was firing weapons at American pilots enforcing the world's sanctions. He had pursued and he had used weapon of mass destruction.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. He harbored terrorists. He invaded his neighbors. He subsidized the families of suicide bombers. He had murdered tens of thousands of his own citizens. He was the source of great instability.

After September the 11th, we looked at all the threats of the world in a new light. The lesson of September the 11th is we must take threats seriously before they fully materialize. The September the 11th Commission concluded our institutions of Government had failed to imagine the horror of that day. After September the 11th, we cannot fail to imagine that a brutal tyrant who hated America, who had ties to terror, had used weapons of mass destruction, might use those weapons or share those capabilities with a deadly enemy.

We saw a threat. I looked at the intelligence and saw a threat. Members of the United States Congress from both parties, including nay opponent, looked at the intelligence and came to the same conclusion; they saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence, saw a threat, and unanimously demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons and weapons programs, or face serious consequences. After 12 years of defiance, he again refused to comply. He continued to deceive the weapons inspectors.

And so I had a choice to make; this Nation had a choice to make: either forget the lessons of September the 11th and hope for the best and trust a madman, or take action to defend our country. Given that choice, I will defend America every time.

When it comes to fighting the threats of our world, when it comes to making America safer, when it comes to spreading the peace, we're turning a corner, and we're not turning back.

We have more work to do, more hard work to do. We'll continue to work with our friends and allies around the world to aggressively pursue the terrorists and the foreign fighters wherever they hide--in Afghanistan and Iraq or elsewhere. See, you can't talk sense to the terrorists. You can't negotiate with them. You cannot hope for the best. You must bring them to justice.