Bush Likens War On Terrorism To Cold War
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Bush Likens War On Terrorism To Cold War
By James Gerstenzang and Tyler Marshall
Times Staff Writers
Times Staff Writers
My Note: It is important to note that the neocons were of a "first strike" mentality during the cols war. They tried to convince several presidents that they should do a pre-emptive strike against Russia in the 1950's and these same people where later thrown out of the Democatic Party for being "too liberal and too militaristic." This is the same foaming at the mouth bunch whom infiltraded the Republican Party and are now running the country. They have over the past few weeks changed US nuclear policy (in regards to North Korea & Iran) to a first strike policy using smaller "tactical nukes." This is the main reason they have resisted in using draft powers.
--- Kevin
9:47 AM PDT, October 6, 2005
WASHINGTON Presenting the war in Iraq and the broader fight against terrorism in even grander terms than he has used in the past, President Bush today equated the nation's current struggles with the Cold War, the defining diplomatic force throughout the second half of the 20th century.
"Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies," the president said. "....Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent."
His remarks, in a speech sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, suggested a renewed effort by the administration in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to bring new attention to the war in Iraq as Bush struggles to regain his political footing and counter the flagging popular support for the central tenets of his foreign policy.
He said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States had snuffed out 10 Al Qaeda plots, including three in the United States. He did not mention specific planned attacks.
He said that new efforts to boost domestic security in the United States, and the intelligence on which it relies, helped the country better face the threat.
Overall, the president appeared to be justifying his handling of both Iraq and the larger war on terrorism amid growing evidence that Islamic militancy has increased, not decreased since Sept. 11, 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003. That would enable him to make the case for holding to his policy in Iraq and elsewhere to defeat a new global enemy in the new century.
Bush argued that Iraq had made "incredible progress" in developing a working democracy. But he seemed to place more emphasis than in the past on the United States making a long-term commitment there.
"Wars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time, and more resolve," he said.
The president's emphasis on the high stakes involved in Iraq served as a response to the anti-war movement in the United States. It comes just weeks after a massive demonstration in Washington, and the month-long protest outside his vacation home in Texas, brought new visibility to the war's opponents.
Justifying his opposition to a quick withdrawal from Iraq, as many of the protesters have demanded, Bush said that the United States had not invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein just to leave the country in the hands of groups dedicated to the destruction of the United States.
"Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized, international terror networks are exposed and broken and their leaders held to account for their acts of murder," he said in a speech that cast the goals of Islamic militants in terms of world domination.
"The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," the president said.
He added: "With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to blackmail our government into isolation."
Bush described terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi as modern-day equivalents of such 20th-century tyrants as Stalin, Hitler and Cambodia's Pol Pot.
"Evil men obsessed by ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply," he said.
Saying that the goals of the Islamic militants may sound overly ambitious, he said they should not be ignored, and called the campaign against terrorism "the unfolding of a global ideological struggle."
Bush set out a multi-point plan to defeat the forces he called "the enemy."
It is built around preventing attacks in the United States, denying non-conventional weapons to outlaw regimes and denying sanctuary to militants in outlaw states. The president mentioned the support A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani blamed for distribution of nuclear technology to North Korea, found in Afghanistan, and he specifically mentioned Iranian and Syrian support for militants.
He also listed denying militants the ability to overthrow governments, as the Taliban is trying to do in Afghanistan.
The president called for the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East and beyond, to counter the recruiting of future militants. He said such a campaign to bolster democracy was "a difficult, long-term project" for which there was no alternative.
Urging moderate Muslim leaders to speak out against terrorism, he quoted Chapter 5, verse 32 of the Koran, that equates the killing of one person with the death of all humanity.
9:47 AM PDT, October 6, 2005
WASHINGTON Presenting the war in Iraq and the broader fight against terrorism in even grander terms than he has used in the past, President Bush today equated the nation's current struggles with the Cold War, the defining diplomatic force throughout the second half of the 20th century.
"Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy pursues totalitarian aims. Its leaders pretend to be an aggrieved party, representing the powerless against imperial enemies," the president said. "....Like the ideology of communism, our new enemy is dismissive of free peoples, claiming that men and women who live in liberty are weak and decadent."
His remarks, in a speech sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, suggested a renewed effort by the administration in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to bring new attention to the war in Iraq as Bush struggles to regain his political footing and counter the flagging popular support for the central tenets of his foreign policy.
He said that since the Sept. 11 attacks, the United States had snuffed out 10 Al Qaeda plots, including three in the United States. He did not mention specific planned attacks.
He said that new efforts to boost domestic security in the United States, and the intelligence on which it relies, helped the country better face the threat.
Overall, the president appeared to be justifying his handling of both Iraq and the larger war on terrorism amid growing evidence that Islamic militancy has increased, not decreased since Sept. 11, 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003. That would enable him to make the case for holding to his policy in Iraq and elsewhere to defeat a new global enemy in the new century.
Bush argued that Iraq had made "incredible progress" in developing a working democracy. But he seemed to place more emphasis than in the past on the United States making a long-term commitment there.
"Wars are not won without sacrifice and this war will require more sacrifice, more time, and more resolve," he said.
The president's emphasis on the high stakes involved in Iraq served as a response to the anti-war movement in the United States. It comes just weeks after a massive demonstration in Washington, and the month-long protest outside his vacation home in Texas, brought new visibility to the war's opponents.
Justifying his opposition to a quick withdrawal from Iraq, as many of the protesters have demanded, Bush said that the United States had not invaded Iraq and toppled Saddam Hussein just to leave the country in the hands of groups dedicated to the destruction of the United States.
"Our commitment is clear: We will not relent until the organized, international terror networks are exposed and broken and their leaders held to account for their acts of murder," he said in a speech that cast the goals of Islamic militants in terms of world domination.
"The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia," the president said.
He added: "With greater economic and military and political power, the terrorists would be able to advance their stated agenda: to develop weapons of mass destruction, to destroy Israel, to intimidate Europe, to assault the American people, and to blackmail our government into isolation."
Bush described terrorist leaders Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab Zarqawi as modern-day equivalents of such 20th-century tyrants as Stalin, Hitler and Cambodia's Pol Pot.
"Evil men obsessed by ambition and unburdened by conscience must be taken very seriously, and we must stop them before their crimes can multiply," he said.
Saying that the goals of the Islamic militants may sound overly ambitious, he said they should not be ignored, and called the campaign against terrorism "the unfolding of a global ideological struggle."
Bush set out a multi-point plan to defeat the forces he called "the enemy."
It is built around preventing attacks in the United States, denying non-conventional weapons to outlaw regimes and denying sanctuary to militants in outlaw states. The president mentioned the support A.Q. Khan, the Pakistani blamed for distribution of nuclear technology to North Korea, found in Afghanistan, and he specifically mentioned Iranian and Syrian support for militants.
He also listed denying militants the ability to overthrow governments, as the Taliban is trying to do in Afghanistan.
The president called for the spread of democracy throughout the Middle East and beyond, to counter the recruiting of future militants. He said such a campaign to bolster democracy was "a difficult, long-term project" for which there was no alternative.
Urging moderate Muslim leaders to speak out against terrorism, he quoted Chapter 5, verse 32 of the Koran, that equates the killing of one person with the death of all humanity.
posted by Kevin @ 11:58 AM
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