Remarks at a fundraiser for representative Tom Latham in Des Moines

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 4, 2002

This Nation has sent men and women who wear our uniform into battle to defend freedom, and they have performed brilliantly. But if we send them into battle, they deserve the best training, the best supplies, the best equipment. They deserve another pay raise. And Congress needs to fully fund the military and defense budget I sent up to both the Senate and the House because we're in for a long struggle. You know, I told the American people that this was a new kind of war. The enemy hit us. We've never been attacked like that before on the continental 48, and we realized that we're in a new era. And that's going to require patience of the American people, because we're chasing down a kind of a faceless enemy, an enemy who sends young men to die on suicide missions and they, themselves, try to hide in caves.

But you need to know how determined I am to defend America and our freedom. It doesn't matter how deep the cave is. It doesn't matter where the cave is. We're going to find them. We're going to slowly but surely hunt them down and bring them to justice.

In the course of this war, I laid out some doctrines that are pretty darn clear. One of them is, if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you provide aid or comfort to a terrorist, you are just as guilty as the terrorist. And the Taliban found out exactly what we meant.

Our military took on a tough mission to uphold that doctrine, and it was a dangerous mission, and they performed brilliantly. We're not conquerors; we showed the world we're liberators. We liberated people from the clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in the history of mankind. I cannot tell you bow proud I was to see the joy on the faces of women and little girls in Afghanistan with the realization that this mighty Nation has freed them to realize their dreams.

I also made it clear to the world that either you are with us, or you're against us, that either you're with the United States in defending freedom, or you're not with the United States in defending freedom. And a lot of people have heard that Nation, and they're proud to sign up with us. And we've got a vast coalition, as we're hunting down the Al Qaida.

We've had over 1,000 arrests in places outside of Afghanistan. I mean, we're slowly but surely doing what we need to do to protect the homeland. And the coalition understands our determination, and they see our resolve.

I'm proud of the patience of the American people. The American people recognize the new type of war we're in. They understand that sometimes they'll see the action of the United States Government and sometimes we won't. But they also understand we must be strong and diligent as we defend freedom, because that's what we defend.

I made it clear that this is a war beyond just a single individual. One guy thinks he can hide, but he's not going to. We haven't heard much from him lately, by the way. [Laughter] But we fight terror wherever it exists. And this is for the good of our children. History has called us into action, and we must not and we will not blink. It's a chance to define freedom for future generations.