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Skriven 2005-12-06 23:33:16 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0512062) for Tue, 2005 Dec 6
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Vice President's Remarks at a Rally for the Troops
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Vice President
December 6, 2005

Vice President's Remarks at a Rally for the Troops
U.S. Army Garrison
Fort Drum, New York



11:55 A.M. EST

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. And, General Freakley,
thank you for the kind introduction, and thank you all for that warm
welcome this morning.

I'm delighted to be here today, and to stand with the men and women of Fort
Drum, New York. When I visited here as Secretary of Defense, I said this
was one of the outstanding military facilities we have any place in the
world. (Applause.) Now that I'm here as Vice President, I'll say it again:
This is one of our finest military facilities, and a tremendous credit to
the United States. (Applause.)

Hard soldiers are trained here in the North Country, and Fort Drum is one
reason the U.S. Army in the year 2005 is about the finest Army we've ever
fielded.

I want to thank General Taluto, General Genereux, General Sullivan, General
Terry, Colonel Clark, Colonel Landry, Sergeant Major Borja, Sergeant Major
Fearnside, and the outstanding Tenth Mountain Division Band. But above all,
ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank the soldiers of two great American
military units: The Tenth Mountain Division and the 42nd Infantry Division.
(Applause.)

Both of these divisions have an important place in the life of our country,
in the history of our freedom. In the four years since our nation was
attacked, you've deployed on many fronts in the war on terror. Whether the
job is dragging mortar tubes through waist-deep snow 9,000 feet up in the
foothills of the Himalayas of Afghanistan, or conducting raids up
staircases in urban Iraq, you know how to take the fight to the enemy and
to get the job done right. I'm honored to be in your presence today. I
bring good wishes to each and every one of you from our Commander-in-Chief,
President George W. Bush. (Applause.)

Let me also thank the good people of Watertown and the nearby communities.
These patriotic citizens are a tremendous source of support to Fort Drum,
and I know you appreciate your North Country neighbors.

Military service often requires a great deal of commitment and sacrifices
by families. On behalf of the President, and all Americans, I thank the
family members who are with us here today, and I want you to know that all
Americans appreciate the sacrifices of our military families.

This morning we take special pride in recognizing those who have recently
returned from duty in Iraq. We know your country asked you to carry out
some difficult and some dangerous missions. You went about that work with
tremendous focus, skill, and regardless of the conditions. Your performance
in combat -- not just the progress you've made, but also the character
you've shown -- has left a lasting impression on people up and down the
chain of command. You've been taking on tough assignments, adapting to
enemy tactics, pressing on and hanging tough. I want to thank you for a job
well done and to say on behalf of all Americans, welcome home. (Applause.)

For many decades now, the Tenth Mountain Division has been known for
producing some of our nation's finest soldiers. One of the greatest living
Americans, Senator Bob Dole, served with the Tenth Mountain in World War II
and is a wounded combat veteran himself.

Members of his generation did their part to protect the American people,
and I know they recognize the same courage and fighting spirit in the
soldiers of today. Recently I was told of two soldiers in the Tenth
Mountain, both of whom had leg amputations after being injured in
Afghanistan, and both of whom remain on active duty to this very day. Their
courage is an inspiration to every person who wears the nation's uniform
and to every American.

Our country is deeply grateful to the Second Brigade Combat Team, which has
completed a deployment at Camp Liberty. This unit was one of the first to
train the national army of Afghanistan. In Iraq, the Second Brigade
Commandos have provided support for elections, and before returning to the
United States, helped round up and detain some 600 terrorists around
Baghdad.

We're also grateful to the historic group of soldiers that Douglas
MacArthur called the "Rainbow Division." The 42nd I.D. headed to Iraq and
became the first Army National Guard division headquarters to deploy into
combat since the Korean War. They've conducted thousands of raids and
search missions, killed and detained terrorists, helped train Iraqi forces,
and provided security for the constitutional referendum in October. As
General Taluto has pointed out, the 42nd I.D. has maintained, supplied, and
supported one of the largest operational areas ever belonging to an Army
division. One unit of the 40 (sic) I.D., the "Fighting 69th" from New York
City, showed its toughness in confronting insurgents around Baghdad.
Fighting the war on terror requires skilled, well trained units of the
National Guard, and the Rainbow Division is one of the best. (Applause.)

Each time I visit a military installation I come away with renewed
confidence in the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States.
Each one of you has dedicated yourself to serving our country and its
ideals, and you are meeting that commitment during a very challenging time
in American history.

Our nation has counted on the Army for more than 230 years. And in this
young century, soldiers of the United States are repaying that confidence
every day as we fight the global war on terror.

When we were attacked on a terrible September morning four years ago,
President Bush said that the struggle would be long and difficult, and
would require our best effort and unfailing resolve. It is tough and it is
dangerous to fight enemies who dwell in the shadows, who target the
innocent, who plot destruction on a massive scale. And in the fight some of
the hardest duties have come to the men and women of the United States
Army.

After the attacks of 9/11, the Tenth Mountain Division was among the first
Army units in Afghanistan -- meeting enemies in their own element, taking
down the Taliban, and preparing the way for the first democratic government
in the 5,000-year history of that country. Soon a large portion of the
division will be returning to Afghanistan. Your presence there will help
ensure peace and security in that country, and serve as a reminder to
friends and adversaries alike that when the United States of America makes
a commitment, we keep our word. (Applause.)

Each and every one of you is part of a team that continues to make history
-- removing threats to America and other free nations, bringing new hope to
a troubled region of the world. As a member of the armed forces, each of
you defends this country, and represents the best that is in it. And by
your achievement you've made one thing very clear: The day you decided to
join the armed forces of our country was a great day for the United States
of America.

There's still difficult work ahead, because the terrorists regard Iraq as
the central front in a war against the civilized world. We are dealing with
enemies that recognize no rule of warfare and accept no standard of
morality. They have declared their intention to bring great harm to any
nation that opposes their aims. Their prime targets are the United States
and the American people. And so we have a responsibility to lead in this
fight.

In the war on terror we face a loose network of committed fanatics, found
in many countries, operating under different commanders. Yet the branches
of the network share the same basic ideology and the same dark vision for
the world. The terrorists want to end American and Western influence in the
Middle East. Their goal in that region is to gain control of a country, so
they have a base from which to launch attacks and wage war against
governments that do not meet their demands. The terrorists believe that by
controlling an entire country, they will be able to target and overthrow
other governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that
encompasses a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle
East and South Asia, all the way to Indonesia.

They have made clear, as well, their ultimate ambition: to arm themselves
with weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate all
Western countries, and to cause mass death here in the United States.

Some have suggested that by liberating Iraq from Saddam Hussein, we simply
stirred up a hornet's nest. They overlook a fundamental fact: We were not
in Iraq on September 11th, 2001, and the terrorists hit us anyway. The
reality is that terrorists were at war with our country long before the
liberation of Iraq, and long before the attacks of 9/11. And for many
years, they were the ones on the offensive. They grew bolder in their
belief that if they killed enough Americans, they could change American
policy. In Beirut in 1983, terrorists killed 241 of our servicemen.
Thereafter, U.S. forces withdrew from Beirut. In Mogadishu in 1993,
terrorists killed 19 American soldiers. Thereafter, United States forces
withdrew from Somalia. Over time, the terrorists concluded that they could
strike America without paying a price, because they did, repeatedly: They
bombed the World Trade Center in 1993; the murders at the Saudi National
Guard training facility in Riyadh in 1995; the Khobar Towers in Saudi
Arabia in 1996; the simultaneous bombing of two of our embassies in East
Africa in 1998; and the USS Cole in 2000.

Believing they could strike us with impunity and that they change U.S.
policy, they attacked us on 9/11 here in the Homeland and killed 3,000
Americans. Now they're making a stand in Iraq -- testing our resolve,
trying to intimidate the United States into abandoning our friends and
permitting the overthrow of a new Middle Eastern democracy. Recently we
obtained a message from the number-two man in al Qaeda, a man named
Zawahiri, that was sent to his chief deputy in Iraq, the terrorist Zarqawi.
The letter makes clear that Iraq is part of a larger plan of imposing
Islamic radicalism across the broader Middle East -- making Iraq a
terrorist haven and a staging ground for attacks against other nations.
Zawahiri also expresses the view that America can be made to run once
again.

I realize that some have advocated a sudden withdrawal of our forces from
Iraq. This would be unwise in the extreme: a victory for terrorists, bad
for the Iraqi people, and bad for the United States. To leave that country
before the job is done would be to hand Iraq over to car bombers and
assassins. That nation would return to the rule of tyrants, become a
massive source of instability in the Middle East, and be a staging area for
ever greater attacks against America and other civilized nations.

As some of you know, when I first ran for Vice President five years ago, my
Democratic opponent was a fine U.S. senator named Joe Lieberman. We
disagreed on some issues, but we stand together on this war. After visiting
our troops in Iraq last month, Senator Lieberman said, quote, "almost all
of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if
those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of
securing the country." He is entirely correct.

On this, both Republicans and Democrats should be able to agree. The only
way the terrorists can win is if we lose our nerve and abandon our mission.
But the world can have confidence in the resolve of the United States. We
will stand by our friends. We will help Iraqis build a nation that is free
and secure and able to defend itself. We will confront our enemies on this
and every other front in the war on terror. And with good allies at our
side, we will prevail. (Applause.)

In Iraq, we are going forward with a comprehensive strategy for victory. On
the political side, we are helping the Iraqis to build the institutions of
a free and representative government. Every benchmark has been met
successfully -- starting with the turnover of sovereignty a year and a half
ago, national elections last January, the drafting of the constitution last
summer and its ratification by the Iraqi people in October, and less than
ten days from now, the election of a new government under that constitution
will occur.

On the economic side, we are helping the Iraqis in the work of rebuilding
and reforming their economy. And on the security side, coalition and Iraqi
goals are clear -- are to clear, to hold and to build: clearing areas of
terrorist control, by taking the offensive, holding areas out of enemy
control, and building, with targeted reconstruction to help Iraqis prepare
for a better future. In fact, at this very hour, the First Brigade of the
Tenth Mountain Division is in Iraq carrying out the vital work of
confronting terrorists and training Iraqi Security Forces to defend their
country. (Applause.)

Thanks to the quality of our forces -- and the will of the Iraqi people to
keep and defend their freedom -- we have been making steady progress. At
this time last year, there were only a handful of Iraqi battalions ready
for combat. Now there are more than 120 Iraqi Army and police combat
battalions in the fight against the terrorists. About 80 of them are
fighting side by side with coalition forces, and about 40 others are taking
the lead in the fight -- controlling their own area, conducting their own
operations against the terrorists.

Gradually, Iraqi forces are taking control of more and more Iraqi territory
-- and as they undertake more and more missions on their own, confidence is
growing within the country and more and more intelligence is coming
directly from the Iraqi people.

The mission of the United States and our coalition will continue to change
as necessary, as it has from the beginning. Going forward, we'll have fewer
nationwide operations and more specialized operations against the
terrorists. We'll move out of Iraqi cities, reduce the number of bases, and
conduct fewer patrols and convoys. As the Iraqi Security Forces gain
strength and experience, and as the political process advances, we'll be
able to decrease American troop levels without losing our capacity to
defeat the terrorists. All Americans can be certain: Any decisions about
troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground and the
judgments of our commanders -- not by artificial timelines set by
politicians in Washington, D.C. (Applause.)

Our strategy is clear, our tactics will remain flexible, and we'll keep at
this work until we finish the job. The progress we've seen in Iraq has not
come easily, but it has been steady, and we can be confident going forward.
By voting in free elections, by ratifying a constitution, by stepping
forward in larger and larger numbers to fight and die to secure their
country and defeat the terrorists, by preparing for elections later this
month, Iraqis are showing that they value their own liberty and are
determined to choose their own destiny.

And by staying in this fight, we honor both the ideals and the security
interests of the United States of America. The victory of freedom in Iraq
will inspire democratic reformers in other lands. In the broader Middle
East and beyond, America will continue to encourage free markets,
democracy, and tolerance -- because these are the ideas and the aspirations
that overcome violence, and turn societies to the pursuits of peace. And as
the people of that region experience new hope, progress, and control over
their own destiny, we will see the power of freedom to change the world,
and a terrible threat will be removed from the lives of our children and
our grandchildren. (Applause.)

Each one of you is helping to write a proud chapter in the history of
freedom. At times you may wonder if your fellow citizens truly realize the
extent of your achievements -- how hard you've worked, how urgent and
dangerous your business can be, how it feels to go out on a long shifts in
unfamiliar places far from home. I want you to know that Americans do
realize it -- and we are very grateful.

This is not a country that takes its military for granted. We are a
democracy, defended by volunteers who deserve all the tools and the support
we can provide. Americans appreciate our fellow citizens who go out on long
deployments and endure the hardship of separation from home and family. We
care about those who have returned with injuries, and who face a hard road
ahead. And our nation grieves for the brave men and women whose lives have
ended in freedom's cause. No one can take away the sorrow that has come to
the families of the fallen. We can only say, with complete certainty that
these Americans served in a noble and a necessary cause, and their
sacrifice has made our nation more secure. We will honor their memory
forever. (Applause.)

None of us can know every turn that lies ahead for America in the fight
against terror. Yet the direction of events is plain to see, and this
period of struggle and testing is also a time of promise. The United States
of America is a good country, a decent country, and we're making the world
a better place by defending the innocent, confronting the violent, and
bringing freedom to the oppressed. We understand the continuing dangers to
civilization, and we have the resources, the strength, and the moral
courage to overcome those dangers and to lay the foundations for a better
world.

You've met every challenge with focus and courage, and with great
effectiveness, and, above all, with honor. Standing here today, in the
presence of U.S. Army combat veterans, I am reminded once again of what a
privilege it is to be a citizen of the United States of America.
(Applause.) You've brought credit to yourselves and to this nation. Your
Commander-in-Chief and your fellow Americans are very proud of you, and
it's my great honor to bring you that message today.

Never Forget, Climb to Glory. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

END 12:16 P.M. EST

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