Remarks in Greeley, Colorado

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Nov 1, 2004

By taking the side of reformers and democrats in the Middle East, we'll gain allies in the war on terror and isolate the ideology of murder and help defeat the despair and hopelessness that feeds terror. By spreading freedom, by spreading liberty, the world will become a much safer place for future generations. Progress in the broader Middle East toward freedom will not come easily. Yet, that progress is coming faster than many would have said possible. Across a troubled region, we're seeing a movement toward elections, greater rights for women, and open discussion of peaceful reform. The election in Afghanistan this month and the election in Iraq next January will be counted as landmark events in the history of liberty.

My opponent looks at things differently.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. He's not only skeptical of democracy in Iraq; he has not made democracy a priority for his foreign policy. But what is his long-term answer to the threat of terror? Is he content to watch and wait as anger and resentment grow for more decades? Is he content to wait as more and more people are angry and hostile and turn to terrorism? Is he content to wait until radicals without conscience gain the weapons to kill without limit? Ignoring the root causes of terror, turning a blind eye to the oppression and despair of millions may be easier in the short run, but we learned on September the 11th, if violence and fanaticism are not opposed at their source, they will find us where we live.

Instead of offering his own agenda for freedom, my opponent complains that we are trying to, quote, "impose democracy on the people of the broader Middle East." Is that what he sees in Afghanistan, unwilling people having democracy forced upon them? We did remove the Taliban by force, but democracy is rising in that country because the Afghan people, like people everywhere, want to live in freedom. No one forced them to register by the millions or to stand in long lines waiting to vote. For many people, that historic election was a day they will never forget. One man in western Kabul arrived to vote at 7 a.m. He said, "I don't want"--he said, "I didn't sleep all night. I wanted to be the first in my polling station." My fellow citizens, freedom is off the march, and it is changing the world.

We are witnessing big and hopeful events. Yet, my opponent refuses to see them. I believe that people across the Middle East are weary of poverty and oppression. I believe everybody wants to be free. Freedom is not America's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty God's gift to each man and woman in this world.

Our fifth great difference concerns the role of the Presidency. A President has to lead with consistency and strength. In a war, sometimes your tactics will change, but not your principles. Americans have seen how I do my job. Even when you might not agree with me, you know what I believe, where I stand, and what I intend to do. On good days and on bad days, whether the polls are up or down, I am determined to win the war on terror, and I will always support the men and women who do the fighting.