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Skriven 2006-09-09 23:31:38 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060909) for Sat, 2006 Sep 9
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President's Radio Address
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 9, 2006

President's Radio Address


ÿÿÿÿÿ Audio ÿÿÿÿÿ Remembering 9/11 ÿÿÿÿÿ

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This Monday, our Nation will mark the 5th
anniversary of the attacks of September the 11th, 2001. On this solemn
occasion, Americans will observe a day of prayer and remembrance, and Laura
and I will travel to New York City, Pennsylvania, and the Pentagon to take
part in memorial ceremonies. Our Nation honors the memory of every person
we lost on that day of terror, and we pray that the Almighty will continue
to comfort the families who had so much taken away from them.

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On this anniversary, we also remember the brutality of the enemy who struck
our country and renew our resolve to defeat this enemy and secure a future
of peace and freedom.

So this week I've given a series of speeches about the nature of our enemy,
the stakes of the struggle, and the progress we have made during the past
five years. On Tuesday in Washington, I described in the terrorists own
words what they believe, what they hope to accomplish, and how they intend
to accomplish it. We know what the terrorists intend, because they have
told us. They hope to establish a totalitarian Islamic empire across the
Middle East, which they call a Caliphate, where all would be ruled
according to their hateful ideology.

Osama bin Laden has called the 9/11 attacks, "A great step towards the
unity of Muslims and establishing the righteous [Caliphate]." Al Qaeda and
its allies reject any possibility of coexistence with those they call
"infidels." Hear the words of Osama bin Laden: "Death is better than living
on this earth with the unbelievers amongst us." We must take the words of
these extremists seriously, and we must act decisively to stop them from
achieving their evil aims.

On Wednesday at the White House, I described for the first time a CIA
program we established after 9/11 to detain and question key terrorist
leaders and operatives, so we can prevent new terrorist attacks. This
program has been invaluable to the security of America and its allies, and
helped us identify and capture men who our intelligence community believes
were key architects of the September the 11th attacks.

Information from terrorists held by the CIA also helped us uncover an al
Qaeda cell's efforts to obtain biological weapons, identify individuals
sent by al Qaeda to case targets for attacks in the United States, stop the
planned strike on a U.S. Marine base in Djibouti, prevent an attack on the
U.S. consulate in Karachi, and help break up a plot to hijack passenger
planes and fly them into Heathrow Airport or the Canary Wharf in London.

Information from the terrorists in CIA custody has also played a role in
the capture or questioning of nearly every senior al Qaeda member or
associate detained by the U.S. and its allies since this program began.
Were it not for this program, our intelligence community believes that al
Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack
against the American homeland. We have largely completed our questioning of
these men, and now it is time that they are tried for their crimes.

So this week I announced that the men we believe orchestrated the 9/11
attacks had been transferred to Guantanamo Bay. And I called on Congress to
pass legislation creating military commissions to try suspected terrorists
for war crimes. As soon as Congress acts to authorize these military
commissions, we will prosecute these men and send a clear message to those
who kill Americans: No matter how long it takes, we will find you and bring
you to justice.

As we bring terrorists to justice, we're acting to secure the homeland. On
Thursday in Atlanta, I delivered a progress report on the steps we have
taken since 9/11 to protect the American people and win the war on terror.
We are safer today because we've acted to address the gaps in security,
intelligence, and information sharing that the terrorists exploited in the
9/11 attacks. No one can say for sure that we would have prevented the
attacks had these reforms been in place in 2001 -- yet, we can say that
terrorists would have found it harder to plan and finance their operations,
harder to slip into our country undetected, and harder to board the planes,
take control of the cockpits, and succeed in striking their targets.

America still faces determined enemies. And in the long run, defeating
these enemies requires more than improved security at home and military
action abroad. We must also offer a hopeful alternative to the terrorists'
hateful ideology. So America is taking the side of democratic leaders and
reformers and supporting the voices of tolerance and moderation across the
Middle East. By advancing freedom and democracy as the great alternative to
repression and radicalism, and by supporting young democracies like Iraq,
we are helping to bring a brighter future to this region -- and that will
make America and the world more secure.

The war on terror will be long and difficult, and more tough days lie
ahead. Yet, we can have confidence in the final outcome, because we know
what America can achieve when our Nation acts with resolve and clear
purpose. With vigilance, determination and courage, we will defeat the
enemies of freedom, and we will leave behind a more peaceful world for our
children and our grandchildren.

Thank you for listening.

END

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