Text 5184, 560 rader
Skriven 2007-08-28 23:30:54 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0708282) for Tue, 2007 Aug 28
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President Bush Addresses the 89th Annual National Convention of the
American Legion
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 28, 2007

President Bush Addresses the 89th Annual National Convention of the
American Legion Reno-Sparks Convention Center Reno, Nevada

˙˙Presidential Remarks
˙˙Audio

˙˙˙˙˙ Fact Sheet: Making America Safer by Defeating Extremists in the
Middle East ˙˙˙˙˙ In Focus: Veterans

10:14 A.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. (Applause.) Thank you all. Please
be seated. Commander, thank you very much for the invitation to come. I'm
honored to be here. I'm honored to represent Post 77 of Houston, Texas.
(Applause.) I hope my fellow Texans behave themselves here in Reno.
(Laughter.) You won't? Okay, well -- (Laughter.)

I appreciate the fact that nearly every community in America has been
enriched by the American Legion and the Women's Auxiliary. I appreciate the
work that you do to remind our citizens about the blessings of America. You
have the profound gratitude of the President and the people of this
country. Thank you for your service. (Applause.)

I particularly appreciate the work you do with our country's young. I like
the fact that you have a oratorical competition that, according to your
organization, helps Americans communicate their ideas clearly and
effectively. Paul suggested I might want to sign up. (Laughter and
applause.) I appreciate the fact that through Boys and Girls Nation you
teach young people who are interested in public service about how
Washington really works. (Laughter.) I'm not there. (Laughter and
applause.)

We meet today at a critical time for our country. America is engaged in a
great ideological struggle -- fighting Islamic extremists across the globe.
Today I want to talk to you and to the American people about a key aspect
of the struggle: the fight for the future of the Middle East. I'm going to
explain why defeating the extremists in this troubled region is essential
to our nation's security, and why success in Iraq is vital to winning this
larger ideological battle. (Applause.)

I do want to thank your Commander. It's been my pleasure to work with Paul.
He's been in the White House a lot, along with the Executive Director, John
Sommer. He's represented you well, and he's served with distinction.
(Applause.)

I thank JoAnn Cronin, the National President of the American Legion
Auxiliary. I appreciate Bob Spanogle, the National Adjutant of the American
Legion. I want to welcome the Governor of the great state of Nevada with us
today -- Governor Jim Gibbons is with us. Mr. Governor, thanks for coming.
(Applause.) The Congressman from this district is the fine representative
named Dean Heller. His wife Lynne sang the National Anthem. Thank you both
for being here today. (Applause.)

I'm honored to be in the presence of those who wear our nation's uniform. I
thank General Charles Campbell, Commanding General U.S. Army Forces
Command, for joining us. Major General Gale Pollock, Acting Surgeon General
of the U.S. Army. And for all those who wear the uniform, thank you for
volunteering to defend this nation in a time of peril. I'm proud to be your
Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)

For nearly a century, Presidents have looked to the American Legion to
provide an example of vision, valor, and love of country. In times of
peace, you counseled vigilance. In times of war, you counseled resolve. And
in every era, you have carried the well-being of our men and women in
uniform in your prayers and in your hearts. We're grateful to your service.

You have an appreciation for how special America is because you have
defended her. You know how fragile freedom is because you have seen it
under attack. And you know the pain of war because you have lost friends
and family members on distant shores -- including those whose fates are
still unknown. We must not, and we will not, end our search until we have
accounted for every member of our Armed Forces from every war and every
corner of the Earth. (Applause.)

I appreciate your efforts to honor the American flag. There are those who
say the flag is just a piece of cloth. That's not the view of those who
bled for it and saw it drape the caskets of some of our finest men and
women. It was the American flag that we planted proudly on Iwo Jima, that
first graced the silver surface of the moon. The country is careful to
protect many things because of what they symbolize. Surely we can find a
way to show equal respect for the symbol that our soldiers and sailors and
airmen and Marines and Coast Guard's men and women have risked their lives
for -- the flag of our nation. So today I join the Legion in calling on the
United States Congress to make protection of the flag the law of our land.
(Applause.)

I also thank you for your strong support of our nation's veterans. We share
a common goal: to make sure our veterans have all the help they need.
(Applause.) We have worked together to achieve that goal. The budget this
year that I submitted is nearly $87 billion for our veterans. That's a
77-percent increase since I took office. It is the highest level of support
for veterans in America's history. (Applause.)

I know health care is a concern of yours, and that's why we've extended
treatment to a million additional veterans, including hundreds of thousands
of men and women returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. We're building new VA
facilities in places where veterans are returning [sic] so more veterans
can get top-quality health care closer to your home. We've expanded grants
to help homeless veterans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. My
point is this: The veterans were there when we needed them -- and this
administration will be with the veterans when they need us. (Applause.)

Perhaps the most important duty that Legion members undertake is to serve
as living reminders that a great country has great responsibilities. Once
again, America finds itself a nation at war. Once again, we're called to
assume the mantle of global leadership. And once again, the American Legion
is walking point. I thank you for your fervent and enthusiastic defense of
our men and women in uniform as they take the fight to the enemy in
Afghanistan, in Iraq, and across the world. They're the finest military on
Earth -- and we are right to be proud of them. (Applause.)

Many people in this country are asking whether the fight underway today is
worth it. This is not the first time Americans have asked that question. We
always enter wars reluctantly -- yet we have fought whenever dangers came.
We fought when turmoil in Europe threatened to shroud the world in
darkness. America sent its military to fight two bitter and bloody
conflicts -- we did what we had to do to get the job done. We fought when
powers in Asia attacked our country and our allies. We sent Americans to
restore the peace -- and we did what we had to do to get the job done. And
we responded when radicals and extremists attacked our homeland in the
first ideological war of the 21st century. We toppled two regimes in
Afghanistan and Iraq that gave harbor to terrorists, defied the
international community, and threatened the security of our nation. And now
we're working to help build free and secure societies in their place -- and
like the past, we will do what we have to do to get the job done.
(Applause.)

We've learned from history that dangers in other parts of the world -- such
as Europe and Asia -- directly affect our security here at home. On
September the 11th, 2001, we learned that there's another region of the
world that directly threatens the security of the American people -- and
that is the Middle East. America has enduring and vital interests in the
region. Throughout our history, the American people have had strong links
with this region -- through ties of commerce and education and faith. Long
before oil and gas were discovered in the Middle East the region was a key
source of trade. It is the home to three of the world's great religions. It
remains a strategic crossroads for the world.

Yet the hope and prosperity that transformed other parts of the world in
the 20th century has bypassed too many in the Middle East. For too long,
the world was content to ignore forms of government in this region -- in
the name of stability. The result was that a generation of young people
grew up with little hope to improve their lives, and many fell under the
sway of violent Islamic extremism. The terrorist movement multiplied in
strength, and bitterness that had simmered for years boiled into violence
across the world. The cradle of civilization became the home of the suicide
bomber. And resentments that began on the streets of the Middle East are
now killing innocent people in train stations and airplanes and office
buildings around the world.

The murderers and beheaders are not the true face of Islam; they are the
face of evil. They seek to exploit religion as a path to power and a means
to dominate the Middle East. The violent Islamic radicalism that inspires
them has two main strains. One is Sunni extremism, embodied by al Qaida and
its terrorist allies. Their organization advances a vision that rejects
tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men,
women, and children in the pursuit of political power. We saw this vision
in the brutal rule of the Taliban in Afghanistan, where women were publicly
whipped, men were beaten for missing prayer meetings, and young girls could
not go to school.

These extremists hope to impose that same dark vision across the Middle
East by raising up a violent and radical caliphate that spans from Spain to
Indonesia. So they kill fellow Muslims in places like Algeria and Jordan
and Egypt and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to undermine their governments.
And they kill Americans because they know we stand in their way. And that
is why they attacked U.S. embassies in Africa in 1998, and killed sailors
aboard the USS Cole in 2001 [sic]. And that is why they killed nearly 3,000
people on 9/11. And that is why they plot to attack us again. And that is
why we must stay in the fight until the fight is won. (Applause.)

The other strain of radicalism in the Middle East is Shia extremism,
supported and embodied by the regime that sits in Tehran. Iran has long
been a source of trouble in the region. It is the world's leading state
sponsor of terrorism. Iran backs Hezbollah who are trying to undermine the
democratic government of Lebanon. Iran funds terrorist groups like Hamas
and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which murder the innocent, and target
Israel, and destabilize the Palestinian territories. Iran is sending arms
to the Taliban in Afghanistan, which could be used to attack American and
NATO troops. Iran has arrested visiting American scholars who have
committed no crimes and pose no threat to their regime. And Iran's active
pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a
region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a
nuclear holocaust.

Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. And that is why
the United States is rallying friends and allies around the world to
isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this
danger before it is too late. (Applause.)

I want our fellow citizens to consider what would happen if these forces of
radicalism and extremism are allowed to drive us out of the Middle East.
The region would be dramatically transformed in a way that could imperil
the civilized world. Extremists of all strains would be emboldened by the
knowledge that they forced America to retreat. Terrorists could have more
safe havens to conduct attacks on Americans and our friends and allies.
Iran could conclude that we were weak -- and could not stop them from
gaining nuclear weapons. And once Iran had nuclear weapons, it would set
off a nuclear arms race in the region.

Extremists would control a key part of the world's energy supply, could
blackmail and sabotage the global economy. They could use billions of
dollars of oil revenues to buy weapons and pursue their deadly ambitions.
Our allies in the region would be under greater siege by the enemies of
freedom. Early movements toward democracy in the region would be violently
reversed. This scenario would be a disaster for the people of the Middle
East, a danger to our friends and allies, and a direct threat to American
peace and security. This is what the extremists plan. For the sake of our
own security, we'll pursue our enemies, we'll persevere and we will
prevail. (Applause.)

In the short-term, we're using all elements of American power to protect
the American people by taking the fight to the enemy. Our troops are
carrying out operations day by day to bring the terrorists to justice.
We're keeping the pressure on them. We're forcing them to move. Our law
enforcement and intelligence professionals are working to cut off terrorist
financing and disrupt their networks. Our diplomats are rallying our
friends and allies throughout the region to share intelligence and to
tighten security and to rout out the extremists hiding in their midst.
Every day we work to protect the American people. Our strategy is this: We
will fight them over there so we do not have to face them in the United
States of America. (Applause.)

In the long-term, we are advancing freedom and liberty as the alternative
to the ideologies of hatred and repression. We seek a Middle East of secure
democratic states that are at peace with one another, that are
participating in the global markets, and that are partners in this fight
against the extremists and radicals. We seek to dry up the stream of
recruits for al Qaeda and other extremists by helping nations offer their
people a path to a more hopeful future. We seek an Iran whose government is
accountable to its people -- instead of to leaders who promote terror and
pursue the technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. We
seek to advance a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians so
they can live side by side in peace and security. We seek justice and
dignity and human rights for all the people of the Middle East.

Achieving this future requires hard work and strategic patience over many
years. Yet our security depends on it. We have done this kind of work
before in Europe. We have done this kind of work before in Japan. We have
done this kind of work before -- and it can be done again. (Applause.)

The future course of the Middle East will turn heavily on the outcome of
the fight in Iraq. Iraq is at the heart of the Middle East. And the two
dangerous strains of extremism vying for control of the Middle East have
now closed in on this country in an effort to bring down the young
democracy.

In Iraq, Sunni extremists, led by al Qaeda, are staging sensational attacks
on innocent men, women, and children in an attempt to stoke sectarian
violence. Their operatives have assassinated those seeking to build a new
future for the Iraqi people. Their targets include everyone they consider
infidels -- including Christians and Jews and Yezidis and Shia, and even
fellow Sunnis who do not share their radical distortion of Islam. Their
ranks include foreign fighters who travel to Iraq through Syria. Their
operations seek to create images of chaos and carnage to break the will of
the American people. These killers don't understand our country. America
does not give in to thugs and assassins -- and America will not abandon
Iraq in its hour of need. (Applause.)

Shia extremists, backed by Iran, are training Iraqis to carry out attacks
on our forces and the Iraqi people. Members of the Qods Force of Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are supplying extremist groups with
funding and weapons, including sophisticated IEDs. And with the assistance
of Hezbollah, they've provided training for these violent forces inside of
Iraq. Recently, coalition forces seized 240-millimeter rockets that had
been manufactured in Iran this year and that had been provided to Iraqi
extremist groups by Iranian agents. The attacks on our bases and our troops
by Iranian-supplied munitions have increased in the last few months --
despite pledges by Iran to help stabilize the security situation in Iraq.

Some say Iran's leaders are not aware of what members of their own regime
are doing. Others say Iran's leaders are actively seeking to provoke the
West. Either way, they cannot escape responsibility for aiding attacks
against coalition forces and the murder of innocent Iraqis. The Iranian
regime must halt these actions. And until it does, I will take actions
necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders
in Iraq to confront Tehran's murderous activities. (Applause.)

For all those who ask whether the fight in Iraq is worth it, imagine an
Iraq where militia groups backed by Iran control large parts of the
country. Imagine an Iraq where al Qaeda has established sanctuaries to
safely plot future attacks on targets all over the world, including
America. We've seen what these enemies will do when American forces are
actively engaged in Iraq. And we can envision what they would do if we --
if they were emboldened by American forces in retreat.

The challenge in Iraq comes down to this: Either the forces of extremism
succeed, or the forces of freedom succeed. Either our enemies advance their
interests in Iraq, or we advance our interests. The most important and
immediate way to counter the ambitions of al Qaeda and Iran and other
forces of instability and terror is to win the fight in Iraq. (Applause.)

Together our coalition has achieved great things in Iraq. We toppled one of
the world's most brutal and dangerous dictators. This world is better off
without Saddam Hussein in power. (Applause.) The Iraqi people held three
national elections, choosing a transitional government, adopting the most
progressive and democratic constitution in the Arab world, and then
electing a government under that constitution. Despite endless threats from
the car bombers and assassins, nearly 12 million Iraqi citizens came out to
vote in a show of hope and solidarity that we should never forget.

In 2006, a thinking enemy struck back. The extremists provoked a level of
sectarian violence that threatened to unravel the democratic gains the
Iraqi people had made. Momentum was shifting to the extremists. The Iraqi
people saw that their government could not protect them, or deliver basic
services. Many Shia turned to militias for security. Many Sunnis did not
see a place for them in the new Iraq. Baghdad was descending into chaos.
And one of our military intelligence analysts wrote that Anbar Province --
al Qaeda's base in Iraq -- was lost to the enemy.

Given the stakes in Iraq, given the fact that what happens in Iraq matters
in the United States, it became clear that we needed to adjust our approach
to address these changes on the ground. So in January, I laid out a new
strategy. This strategy was designed to help bring security to the Iraqi
population, especially in Baghdad. It was designed to help clear the
terrorists out of Iraqi cities and communities so that local governments
could retake control, resume basic services, and help revive businesses in
their communities. It was designed to give the Iraqi security forces time
to grow in size and capability so that they can ultimately bring security
to their country. It was designed to provide a secure environment in which
national reconciliation could take place. And it was designed to encourage
more members of the international community to recognize their interest in
a free and democratic Iraq -- and to do more to help make that possible.

The central objective of this strategy was to aid the rise of an Iraqi
government that can protect its people, deliver basic services, and be an
ally in this war on terror. And we understood that none of these goals
could be met until the Iraqi people feel safer in their own homes and
neighborhoods.

To carry out this new strategy I sent reinforcements to Baghdad and Anbar
Province. I put a new commander in place -- General David Petraeus, an
expert on counterinsurgency. Those reinforcements have been fully
operational for just over two months. Yet there are unmistakable signs that
our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is
showing results in terms of security. Our forces are in the fight all over
Iraq. Since January, each month we have captured or killed an average of
more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other enemies of Iraq's elected
government. (Applause.) Al Qaeda is being displaced from former strongholds
in Baghdad and Anbar and Diyala provinces.

We've conducted operations against Iranian agents supplying lethal
munitions to extremist groups. We've targeted Shia death squads and their
supply networks. The Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki, has
courageously committed to pursue the forces of evil and destruction.
Sectarian violence has sharply decreased in Baghdad. The momentum is now on
our side. The surge is seizing the initiative from the enemy -- and handing
it to the Iraqi people.

Our new strategy is also showing results in places where it matters most --
the cities and neighborhoods where ordinary Iraqis live. In these areas,
Iraqis are increasingly reaching accommodations with each other, with the
coalition, and with the government in Baghdad. This reconciliation is
coming from the bottom up. It's having an impact in the fight against the
enemy and it's building a solid foundation for a democratic Iraq.

In Anbar, the province that had been thought to be lost to the enemy, is
increasingly becoming more peaceful because members of local Sunnis are
turning against al Qaeda. They're sick and tired of the dark vision of
these murderers. Local sheikhs have joined the American forces to drive the
terrorists out of the capital city of Ramadi and elsewhere. Residents are
providing critical intelligence, and tribesmen have joined the Iraqi police
and security forces.

People want to live in peace. Mothers want to raise their children in a
peaceful environment. The local Iraqis, given a chance, are turning against
these murderers and extremists. (Applause.)

Many Iraqis who once felt marginalized in a free Iraq are rejoining the
political process, and now it's the enemy of a free Iraq that is being left
on the margins. Last month, provincial officials reopened parts of the
war-damaged government center with the help of one of our provincial
reconstruction teams. Similar scenes are taking place all across Anbar, the
province once thought lost. Virtually every city and every town in the
province now has a mayor and a municipal council. Local officials are
forming ties with the central government in Baghdad because these Sunni
leaders now see a role for their people in a new Iraq. And in an
encouraging sign, the central government is beginning to respond with
funding for vital services and reconstruction, and increased security
forces.

In other provinces, there are also signs of this kind of bottom-up
progress. In Diyala Province, the city of Baqubah reopened six banks,
providing residents with capital for the local economy. In Ninewa Province,
local officials have established a commission to investigate corruption,
with a local judge empowered to pursue charges of fraud and racketeering.
These are signs that our strategy to encourage political cooperation at the
grassroots level is working. And over time, see, and over time, as the
Iraqis take control over their lives at the local level, they will demand
more action from their national leaders in Baghdad. That's how democracy
works. And that's why the encouraging developments at the local level are
so important for Iraq's future.

At the moment, our new strategy is showing fewer results at the national
level. Iraq is overcoming decades of tyranny and deprivation, which left
scars on Iraq's people and their psyche. The serious sectarian violence of
2006 and early 2007 further tore at the fabric of Iraqi society, increasing
distrust between Iraq's ethnic and religious communities. In the midst of
the security challenges, Iraq's leaders are being asked to resolve
political issues as complex and emotional as the struggle for civil rights
in our own country. So it is no wonder that progress is halting, and people
are often frustrated. The result is that it has been harder than
anticipated for Iraqis to meet the legislative benchmarks on which we have
all been focused.

In my weekly consultations with Ambassador Crocker we discuss these
challenges. We also discuss the signs of hope. We're encouraged by the
agreement reached Sunday night by the top leaders in Iraq's government.
They agree on several draft pieces of legislation that are at the core of
national reconciliation -- and are among the benchmarks identified by the
United States Congress. For example, the draft law on de-Baathification
reform addresses the question of how Iraqis will deal with their past. The
draft legislation on provincial powers tackles how Iraqis will map out
their future. These measures still have to be passed by the Iraqi
parliament. Yet the agreement shows that Iraq's leaders can put aside their
differences, they can sit down together, and they can work out tough issues
central to the fate of their country.

The agreement by Iraq's leaders was significant for another reason. It
thanks the coalition for our sacrifices, and recognizes the importance of
maintaining a coalition presence in Iraq. It also calls for the development
of a long-term relationship with the United States. I welcome this
invitation. I've committed our government to negotiating such a partnership
soon. This long-term relationship need not require the level of engagement
that we have in Iraq today. But it can serve the common interests of both
Iraq and the United States -- to combat terrorism, and to help bring
stability to an important country and region.

Iraq's government still has more work to do to meet many of its legislative
benchmarks. Yet it's also important to note that many of the goals behind
these benchmarks are being achieved without legislation. Here's an example:
We believed that an equitable sharing of oil revenues would require the
Iraqi parliament to pass an oil-sharing law. In fact, the national
government is already sharing oil revenues with the provinces -- despite
the fact that no formal law has been passed. Iraq's government is making
gains in other important areas. Electricity production is improving. The
parliament has passed about 60 pieces of legislation, including a
$41-billion budget. Despite the slow progress in the Iraqi parliament --
here's the evidence -- Iraq as a whole is moving forward.

Our strategy is also showing results at the international level. The United
Nations and Iraq -- with support from the International Monetary Fund, the
World Bank, and nations from around the globe -- have finalized an
International Compact for Iraq that will bring new economic assistance and
debt relief in exchange for aggressive economic reforms. So far, the Iraqis
have made significant progress in meeting the IMF's economic benchmarks.
The Iraqis have convened a Neighbors Conference that's bringing together
nations in the region. The goal is to help the Iraqis through specific
security and economic and diplomatic cooperation.

As part of these diplomatic initiatives, Prime Minister Maliki has met with
counterparts in Turkey, Syria, and Iran to urge the support for his nation.
Saudi Arabia is looking to open a new embassy in Baghdad. The United
Nations Security Council has decided to expand its mission in Iraq, and is
seeking to help with local elections and reconciliation. The United Nations
will soon name a new high-ranking envoy to Iraq, to coordinate the UN's
expanded effort to that country. Here's what I'm telling you -- the
international community increasingly understands the importance of a free
Iraq. They understand a free Iraq is important for world peace. And that is
why we'll continue to rally the world for this noble and necessary cause.
(Applause.)

All these developments are hopeful -- they're hopeful for Iraq, and they're
hopeful for the Middle East, and they're hopeful for peace. In two weeks,
General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker will return to Washington to
deliver an interim assessment of the situation on the ground and the
prospects for the future. This status report comes less than three months
after the surge became fully operational. It will likely assess what's
going well in Iraq, and what needs to be improved, and what changes we need
to make in our strategy and force deployments in the months ahead. Congress
asked for this assessment. Congress should listen to it in its entirety.
And I ask members of the Congress to withhold any conclusions until they
can hear these men out. (Applause.)

Unfortunately, some who had complained about a lack of security in Iraq are
now attempting to change the terms of the debate. Their argument used to be
that security was bad, so the surge has failed. Now their argument seems to
be security is better, so the surge has failed. They disregard the
political advances on the local level, and instead change -- charge that
the slow pace of legislative progress on the national level proves our
strategy has not worked. This argument gets it backwards. Improving
security is the precondition for making gains in other areas.

Senator Joe Lieberman puts it this way: "While it is true there is no pure
'military' solution to the violence in Iraq, it is worth remembering that
neither is there any pure 'political' solution." Security progress must
come first. And only then can political progress follow -- first locally,
and then in Baghdad. So it's going to take time for the recent progress we
have seen in security to translate into political progress. In short, it
makes no sense to respond to military progress by claiming that we have
failed because Iraq's parliament has yet to pass every law it said it
would.

The American people know how difficult democracy can be. Our own country
has an advanced and sophisticated political system in place. Yet even we
can't pass a budget on time -- and we've had 200 years of practice.
(Applause.) Prime Minister Maliki and other Iraqi leaders are dealing with
the issues far more controversial and complicated, and they are trying to
do it all at once, after decades of a brutal dictatorship. Iraq's leaders
aren't perfect. But they were elected by their people. They want what we
want -- a free Iraq that fights terrorists instead of harboring them. And
leaders in Washington need to look for ways to help our Iraqi allies
succeed -- not excuses for abandoning them. (Applause.)

The challenge is before us -- the challenge before us is hard, but America
can meet it. And the conflict has come at a cost, on behalf of a cause that
is right and essential to the American people. It's a noble cause. It is a
just cause. It is a necessary cause. I wouldn't have asked the young men
and women of our military to go in harm's way if I didn't think success in
Iraq was necessary for the security of the United States of America.
(Applause.) I know it can be difficult to see sometimes, but what happens
on the streets of Baghdad and in the neighborhoods of Anbar has a direct
impact on the safety of Americans here at home. And that is why we're in
this fight. And that's why we'll stay in the fight, and that is why we're
going to win this fight. (Applause.)

One of the great blessings of this country is that our men and women in
uniform understand it. One of those young men was Specialist First Class
Stephen Davis of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Stephen came from a proud
military family. His father and grandfather were veterans. His younger
brother, his mother, and her father were all stationed with him in Iraq.

When Stephen was killed by an insurgent grenade on the Fourth of July,
their hearts were broken. And yet, somehow this remarkable family found a
way to put aside their grief and continue to serve our country. Stephen's
mother said that Stephen was proud of what they were doing in Iraq -- so
six days after the funeral, she went back on duty as a medic. His father,
Buck, a Gulf War veteran, says he wants to go to Iraq today. This family
represents the best of the American spirit -- a spirit that shows we have
the grit and the will to defend the American people. (Applause.)

One day years from now, another president will be in a room like this. That
president will look out upon a sea of caps worn by those who show a quiet
pride in their service. Some in that audience will include people who won
the fight against fascism and Nazism and communism. You'll be joined by
younger veterans who have fought in places like Kandahar and Ramadi. And
just like you, the new generation of veterans will be able to say proudly
they held fast against determined and ruthless enemies, helped salvage an
entire region from tyranny and terror, and made a safer world for the
American people.

To those future members of the American Legion, and to all of you, I offer
the gratitude of our nation, and offer my prayers for a future of peace.
Thank you. And may God America. (Applause.)

END 10:59 A.M. PDT

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