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Skriven 2006-05-27 23:35:22 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0605271) for Sat, 2006 May 27
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President Delivers Commencement Address at the United States Military
Academy at West Point
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 27, 2006

President Delivers Commencement Address at the United States Military
Academy at West Point
Mitchie Stadium
United States Military Academy at West Point
West Point, New York



THE PRESIDENT: Thank you for the warm welcome. General Lennox, Secretary
Harvey, members of the United States Congress, Academy staff and faculty,
distinguished guests, proud family, and, most importantly, the Class of
2006. (Applause.)

On the way in, General Lennox showed me what you did to his car.
(Laughter.) I told him, "That's a fine looking vehicle -- (laughter) -- but
you need to stay away from Marine One." (Laughter.)

I see a lot of Gray Hogs out there -- a few Century Men, too. During your
four years at this Academy, I'm told there are about 18,000 opportunities
to be late for class, drill, march, or inspection -- and many of you
availed yourselves of those opportunities. (Laughter.) Others got written
up just for having bad haircuts. No matter what reason you got slugged,
help is on the way. (Applause.) In keeping with longstanding tradition, I
hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct
offenses. I leave it to General Lennox to define exactly what "minor"
means. (Laughter.)

It's a privilege to stand before the future leaders of the United States
Army. (Applause.) You have worked hard to get to this moment. You survived
the hardest Beast on record -- the "best summer of your lives" in Buckistan
-- countless hours in the House of Pane. In four years, you've been
transformed from "bean-heads" to "yuks," to "cows," and "Firsties." And
today you will become proud officers of the greatest Army in the history of
the world. (Applause.) Your teachers are proud of you; your parents are
proud of you; and so is your Commander-in-Chief. Congratulations on a
fantastic achievement. (Applause.)

This Academy has shaped your minds and bodies for the challenges that lie
ahead. You worked hard in the classroom and on the playing field to prepare
for the rigors of combat. One cadet described the West Point attitude this
way: "First I'll beat Navy and Air Force, and then I'll beat the enemies of
freedom on the battlefield."

The field of battle is where your degree and commission will take you. This
is the first class to arrive at West Point after the attacks of September
the 11th, 2001. Each of you came here in a time of war, knowing all the
risks and dangers that come with wearing our nation's uniform. And I want
to thank you for your patriotism, your devotion to duty, your courageous
decision to serve. America is grateful and proud of the men and women of
West Point. (Applause.)

The reality of war has surrounded you since your first moments at this
Academy. More than 50 of your fellow cadets here at West Point have already
seen combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. And 34 times since your class arrived,
you have observed a moment of silence in Washington Hall to honor a former
cadet fallen in the war on terror. Each loss is heartbreaking -- and each
loss has made you even more determined to pick up their mantle, to carry on
their fight, and to achieve victory. We will honor the memory of these
brave souls. We will finish the task for which they gave their lives. We
will complete the mission. (Applause.)

West Point has adapted to prepare you for the war you're about to enter.
Since the attacks of September the 11th, 2001, this Academy has established
a new Combating Terrorism Center, a new minor in Terrorism Studies, with
new courses in counter-insurgency operations, intelligence, and homeland
security, and winning the peace. West Point has expanded Arabic language
training, has hired new faculty with expertise in Islamic law and culture,
brought in members of the 101st and 82nd Airborne to train you and share
their experiences on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. And each of
you endured grueling Saturday training events where you practiced
identifying IEDs, conducting convoy operations and running checkpoints. By
changing to meet the new threats, West Point has given you the skills you
will need in Afghanistan and Iraq -- and for the long war with Islamic
radicalism that will be the focus of much of your military careers.

This Academy went through a similar period of change six decades ago, at
the end of World War II. Some of West Point's greatest graduates -- men
like Eisenhower and Bradley, Patton and MacArthur -- had just brought our
nation victory in Europe and Japan. Yet, almost immediately, a new threat
appeared on the horizon -- the threat of Imperial Communism. And West
Point, like America, had to prepare for a long struggle with a new
adversary, one that would require the determination of generations of
Americans.

In the early years of that struggle, freedom's victory was not obvious or
assured. In 1947, communist forces were threatening Greece and Turkey, the
reconstruction of Germany was faltering, mass starvation was setting in
across Europe. In 1948, Czechoslovakia fell to communism; France and Italy
appeared to be headed for the same fate, and Berlin was blockaded on the
orders of Josef Stalin. In 1949, the Soviet Union exploded a nuclear
weapon, giving our new enemy the ability to bring catastrophic destruction
to our homeland. And weeks later, communist forces won their revolution in
China, and claimed the world's most populous nation for communism. And in
the summer of 1950, seven North Korean divisions poured across the border
into South Korea, marking the start of the first direct military clash of
the Cold War. All of this took place in just the first five years following
World War II.

Fortunately, we had a President named Harry Truman, who recognized the
threat, took bold action to confront it, and laid the foundation for
freedom's victory in the Cold War.

President Truman set a clear doctrine. In a speech to Congress, he called
for military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey, and announced a new
doctrine that would guide American policy throughout the Cold War. He told
the Congress: "It must be the policy of the United States to support free
peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by
outside pressures." With this new doctrine, and with the aid to back it up,
Greece and Turkey were saved from communism, and the Soviet expansion into
Southern Europe and the Middle East was stopped.

President Truman acted boldly to confront new adversaries. When Stalin
tested America's resolve with a blockade of Berlin, President Truman
launched the Berlin Airlift, delivering supplies to the besieged city,
forcing the Red Army to back down, and securing the freedom of West Berlin.
Later, Truman again responded to communist aggression with resolve,
fighting a difficult war in Korea. The Korean War saw many setbacks, and
missteps and terrible losses. More than 54,000 Americans gave their lives
in Korea. Yet, in the end, communist forces were pushed back to the 38th
Parallel -- and the freedom of South Korea was secure.

President Truman acted boldly to help transform old adversaries into
democratic allies. In Asia, his administration led the effort to help Japan
change from a nation that had launched a surprise attack on America into a
thriving democracy and a steadfast ally. In Europe, he launched the
Marshall Plan, an unprecedented effort to help Germany and other nations in
Europe recover from war and establish strong democracies. The Marshall Plan
cost about $100 billion in today's dollars, and it helped to save Western
Europe from Soviet tyranny, and led to the emergence of democratic allies
that remain indispensable to the cause of peace today.

President Truman transformed our alliances to deal with new dangers. After
World War II, he led the effort to form the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, the first peacetime alliance in American history. NATO served
as a military bulwark against communist aggression, and helped give us a
Europe that is now whole, free, and at peace.

President Truman positioned U.S. forces to deal with new threats. Despite
enormous pressure to bring our troops home after World War II, he kept
American forces in Germany to deter Soviet aggression, and kept U.S. forces
in Japan as a counterweight to communist China. Together with the
deployment of U.S. forces to Korea, the military footprint Truman
established on two continents has remained virtually unchanged to this day,
and has served as the foundation for security in Europe and in the Pacific.

President Truman launched a sweeping reorganization of the federal
government to prepare it for a new struggle. Working with Congress, he
created the Department of Defense, established the Air Force as a separate
military service, formed the National Security Council at the White House,
and founded the Central Intelligence Agency to ensure America had the best
intelligence on Soviet threats.

President Truman made clear that the Cold War was an ideological struggle
between tyranny and freedom. At a time when some still wanted to wish away
the Soviet threat, he brought Winston Churchill to Missouri, to deliver his
famous "Iron Curtain" speech. And he issued a presidential directive called
NSC-68, which declared that America faced an enemy "animated by a new
fanatic faith" and determined to impose its ideology on the entire world.
This directive called on the United States to accept the responsibility of
world leadership, and defend the cause of freedom and democracy -- and
that's exactly what the United States did.

By the actions he took, the institutions he built, the alliances he forged
and the doctrines he set down, President Truman laid the foundations for
America's victory in the Cold War. As President Truman put it towards the
end of his presidency, "When history says that my term of office saw the
beginning of the Cold War, it will also say that in those eight years we
set the course that can win it." His leadership paved the way for
subsequent Presidents from both political parties -- men like Eisenhower
and Kennedy and Reagan -- to confront and eventually defeat the Soviet
threat. (Applause.)

Today, at the start of a new century, we are again engaged in a war unlike
any our nation has fought before -- and like Americans in Truman's day, we
are laying the foundations for victory. (Applause.) The enemies we face
today are different in many ways from the enemy we faced in the Cold War.
In the Cold War, we deterred Soviet aggression through a policy of mutually
assured destruction. Unlike the Soviet Union, the terrorist enemies we face
today hide in caves and shadows -- and emerge to attack free nations from
within. The terrorists have no borders to protect, or capital to defend.
They cannot be deterred -- but they will be defeated. (Applause.) America
will fight the terrorists on every battlefront, and we will not rest until
this threat to our country has been removed. (Applause.)

While there are real differences between today's war and the Cold War,
there are also many important similarities. Like the Cold War, we are
fighting the followers of a murderous ideology that despises freedom,
crushes all dissent, has territorial ambitions, and pursues totalitarian
aims. Like the Cold War, our enemies are dismissive of free peoples,
claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and lack the
resolve to defend our way of life. Like the Cold War, our enemies believe
that the innocent can be murdered to serve a political vision. And like the
Cold War, they're seeking weapons of mass murder that would allow them to
deliver catastrophic destruction to our country. If our enemies succeed in
acquiring such weapons, they will not hesitate to use them, which means
they would pose a threat to America as great as the Soviet Union.

Against such an enemy, there is only one effective response: We will never
back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept anything less
than complete victory. (Applause.)

Like previous generations, history has once again called America to great
responsibilities, and we're answering history's call with confidence. We're
confronting new dangers with new determination, and laying the foundations
for victory in the war on terror.

In this new war, we have set a clear doctrine. After the attacks of
September the 11th, I told a joint session of Congress: America makes no
distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. If
you harbor a terrorist, you are just as guilty as the terrorists and you're
an enemy of the United States of America. (Applause.) In the months that
followed, I also made clear the principles that will guide us in this new
war: America will not wait to be attacked again. We will confront threats
before they fully materialize. We will stay on the offense against the
terrorists, fighting them abroad so we do not have to face them here at
home. (Applause.)

In this new war, we have acted boldly to confront new adversaries. When the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan tested America's resolve, refusing our just
demands to turn over the terrorists who attacked America, we responded with
determination. Coalition forces drove the Taliban from power, liberated
Afghanistan, and brought freedom to 25 million people. (Applause.) In Iraq,
another tyrant chose to test America's resolve. Saddam Hussein was a
dictator who had pursued and used weapons of mass destruction, he sponsored
terrorists, invaded his neighbors, abused his people, deceived
international inspectors, and refused to comply with more than a dozen
United Nations resolutions. (Applause.) When the United Nations Security
Council gave him one final chance to disclose and disarm, or face serious
consequences, he refused to take that final opportunity. So coalition
forces went into Iraq and removed his cruel regime. And today, Iraq's
former dictator is on trial for his crimes -- and America and the world are
better off because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power. (Applause.)

In this new war, we have helped transform old adversaries into democratic
allies. Just as an earlier generation of Americans helped change Germany
and Japan from conquered adversaries into democratic allies, today a new
generation of Americans is helping Iraq and Afghanistan recover from the
ruins of tyranny. In Afghanistan, the terror camps have been shut down,
women are working, boys and girls are going to school, and Afghans have
chosen a president and a new parliament in free elections. In Iraq, the
people defied the terrorists and cast their ballots in three free elections
last year. And last week, Iraqis made history when they inaugurated the
leaders of a new government of their choosing, under a constitution that
they drafted and they approved. When the formation of this unity -- with
the formation of this unity government, the world has seen the beginning of
something new: a constitutional democracy in the heart of the Middle East.
(Applause.) Difficult challenges remain in both Afghanistan and Iraq. But
America is safer, and the world is more secure, because these two countries
are now democracies -- and they are allies in the cause of freedom and
peace. (Applause.)

In this new war, we have forged new alliances, and transformed old ones,
for the challenges of a new century. After our nation was attacked, we
formed the largest coalition in history to fight the war on terror. More
than 90 nations are cooperating in a global campaign to dry up terrorist
financing, to hunt down terrorist operatives, and bring terrorist leaders
to justice. Nations like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia that once turned a blind
eye to terror are now helping lead the fight against it. And since
September the 11th, 2001, our coalition has captured or killed al Qaeda
managers and operatives in over two dozen countries, and disrupted a number
of serious al Qaeda terrorist plots, including plots to attack targets
inside the United States. Our nation is more secure because we have rallied
the world to confront this threat to civilization. (Applause.)

The greatest threat we face is the danger of terrorists armed with weapons
of mass destruction. To confront this danger, we launched the Proliferation
Security Initiative, a coalition of more than 70 nations that are working
together to stop shipments of weapons of mass destruction on land, at sea,
and in the air, and to stop them from falling into terrorist hands. And
building on the legacy of Harry Truman, we launched the most dramatic
transformation of the NATO Alliance since its founding in 1949. Working
with allies, we created a new "NATO Response Force" that will allow NATO to
deploy rapid reaction forces on short notice anywhere in the world. And
together we transformed NATO from a defensive alliance focused on
protecting Europe from Soviet tank invasion into a dynamic alliance that is
now operating across the world in the support of democracy and peace.

For five decades, NATO forces never deployed outside of Europe. Today, NATO
is leading security operations in Afghanistan, training Iraqi security
forces in Baghdad, delivering humanitarian relief to earthquake victims in
Pakistan, and training peacekeepers in Sudan. An alliance some said had
lost its purpose after the Cold War is now meeting the challenges of the
21st century.

In this new war, we're positioning our forces to meet new threats. For more
than half a century, American forces essentially had remained in the same
places that President Truman deployed them. So, two years ago, I announced
the largest transformation of our global force posture since the start of
the Cold War. Over the coming decade, we will move U.S. forces from Cold
War garrisons in Europe and Asia, and reposition them so they can surge
quickly to trouble spots anywhere. We will deploy advanced military
capabilities that will increase U.S. combat power across the world, while
bringing home between 60,000 and 70,000 troops now stationed overseas. By
taking these steps, we will reduce stress on our military families, raise
the pressure on our enemies, and ensure that when you put on the uniform of
the United States Army you are ready to meet any threat. (Applause.)

In this new war, we've undertaken the most sweeping reorganization of the
federal government since the start of the Cold War. We created a new
Department of Homeland Security, merging 22 different government
organizations into a single department with a clear mission: to protect
America from future attacks. We created the new Director of National
Intelligence, which has led a broad restructuring of our nation's
intelligence agencies for the threats of the 21st century. We have
transformed the FBI into an agency whose primary focus is stopping
terrorism, and reorganized the Department of Justice to help us meet this
new threat. We passed the Patriot Act, which broke down barriers that
prevented law enforcement and intelligence agencies from sharing vital
information on terrorist threats.

At the Department of Defense, we created a new Northern Command responsible
for homeland defense, a new Strategic Command responsible for defending
America against long-range attacks. We transformed the Special Operations
Command, more than doubling its budget, adding thousands of new troops, and
making it the lead command in the global war on terror. And we're
undertaking the largest transformation of the Army in more than a hundred
years. Since the turn of the last century, the Army has been organized
around the division structure designed by Napoleon. Today, we're replacing
that division structure with a 21st century Army built around "modular"
brigade combat teams that will be interchangeable and available to work for
any division commander. These brigades will make our Army faster and
lighter, and more agile and more lethal -- and it will make you more
effective in the defense of freedom. (Applause.)

We have made clear that the war on terror is an ideological struggle
between tyranny and freedom. When President Truman spoke here for the 150th
anniversary of West Point, he told the Class of 1952: "We can't have
lasting peace unless we work actively and vigorously to bring about
conditions of freedom and justice in the world." That same principle
continues to guide us in today's war on terror. Our strategy to protect
America is based on a clear premise: The security of our nation depends on
the advance of liberty in other nations. On September the 11th, 2001, we
saw that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles
away could bring murder and destruction to our country. And we learned an
important lesson: Decades of excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom
in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe. (Applause.) So long as the
Middle East remains a place where freedom does not flourish, it will remain
a place where terrorists foment resentment and threaten American security.

So we are pursuing a forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East. I
believe the desire for liberty is universal -- and by standing with
democratic reformers across a troubled region, we will extend freedom to
millions who have not known it -- and lay the foundation of peace for
generations to come. (Applause.)

We're still in the early stages of this struggle for freedom and, like
those first years of the Cold War, we've seen setbacks, and challenges, and
days that have tested America's resolve. Yet we've also seen days of
victory and hope. We've seen people in Afghanistan voting for the first
democratic parliament in a generation. We have seen jubilant Iraqis dancing
in the streets, holding up ink-stained fingers, celebrating their freedom.
We've seen people in Lebanon waving cedar flags and securing the liberty
and independence of their land. We've seen people in Kyrgyzstan drive a
corrupt regime from power and vote for democratic change. In the past four
years alone, more than 110 million human beings across the world have
joined the ranks of the free -- and this is only the beginning. (Applause.)
The message has spread from Damascus to Tehran that the future belongs to
freedom -- and we will not rest until the promise of liberty reaches every
people and every nation. (Applause.)

Now the Class of 2006 will enter the great struggle -- and the final
outcome depends on your leadership. The war began on my watch -- but it's
going to end on your watch. (Applause.) Your generation will bring us
victory in the war on terror. My call to you is this: Trust in the power of
freedom, and be bold in freedom's defense. Show leadership and courage --
and not just on the battlefield. Take risk, try new things, and challenge
the established way of doing things. Trust in your convictions, stay true
to yourselves -- and one day the world will celebrate your achievements.
(Applause.)

I have confidence in the final outcome of this struggle, because I know the
character and determination of the men and women gathered before me. We see
that character and determination in a cadet named Patrick Dowdell. It was
Patrick's dream to attend West Point, and he applied straight out of high
school, but did not get in on his first try. After being turned down, he
wondered if he was cut out for the Academy. His father, New York Fireman
Kevin Dowdell, encouraged Patrick to apply again. Kevin wrote letters to
his congressman on behalf of his son. And he spent long hours working with
Patrick on his application -- right up to September the 9, 2001. Two days
later, Kevin Dowdell raced across the Brooklyn Bridge with his fire rescue
unit to the burning World Trade Towers -- and he never returned.

After the attack, Patrick spent months digging at Ground Zero, looking for
his dad -- and thinking about the dream that they had shared about his
future. He was determined to fulfill that dream. And in the summer of 2002,
Patrick arrived here at West Point as a new cadet -- and today he will
receive his degree and his commission. (Applause.)

A few weeks ago, Patrick's mom, RoseEllen, attended another graduation
ceremony -- at the New York City Fire Academy, where her other son, James,
followed his father's footsteps as one of New York's Bravest. And today,
RoseEllen -- (applause) -- is with us to see Patrick join the ranks of
America's bravest, as an officer in the United States Army. (Applause.)

We live in freedom because young Americans like Patrick, and all the cadets
here today, have stepped forward to serve. You have chosen a difficult and
dangerous vocation -- and America is grateful for that choice. Today, you
will accept a sacred trust: You will lead America's sons and daughters on
the battlefield in a time of war. Our nation is counting on you as we count
on no other group of young leaders in our country. The last four years have
tested you in ways you never imagined -- and you leave here well prepared
for the challenges you will face.

There's a saying at West Point that much of the history you teach here was
made by the people you taught here. Now the Class of 2006 will leave for
the battlefield -- and you will make history. Never falter, never quit.
Bring honor to the uniform, and pride to your country. May God bless you,
and the Class of 2006. (Applause.)

END 10:09 A.M. EDT

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