[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
[December 9, 2008]
[Pages 1433-1438]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks at the United States Military Academy at West Point in West
Point, New York
December 9, 2008
Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you, General, for your warm welcome. Thank you for inviting me here to
West Point. I now know why you're so happy I'm here--[laughter]--all
classes were canceled.
I had the honor of sitting next to the General and Judy during the game over
the weekend. I am disappointed I could not bring the Commander in
Chief's Trophy with me. However, you just get the Commander in Chief.
This is my last visit to a military academy as President, so I
thought I would exercise a certain prerogative of office one last time:
I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct
offenses. As always, I always--I leave it to General
Hagenbeck to determine what ``minor''
means. [Laughter]
I really am proud to be with you today. I appreciate General Mike
Linnington and his wife
Brenda for meeting me. It turns out
Brenda was a--is a 1981 West Point graduate.
I appreciate being here with General Pat Finnegan and Joan. Today on Air
Force One, Congressman John Shimkus, 1980
West Point graduate, and Congressman Geoff Davis, 1981 West Point graduate, flew down with me. It's my honor
to let them fly on the big bird. [Laughter]
There are many honors that come with the Presidency, but none higher
than serving as Commander in Chief in the greatest Armed Forces on
Earth. Every one of you is a volunteer. You came to this academy in a
time of war, knowing all the risks that come with military service. I
want to thank you for making the noble and selfless decision to serve
our country. And I will always be grateful to the men and women who wear
the uniform of the United States military.
As West Point cadets, you're part of a generation that has witnessed
extraordinary change in the world. Two decades ago, the cold war was
nearing its end, and the Soviet Union was about to collapse. You were
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just beginning your lives. About the same time, another threat was
quietly gathering. In hidden corners of the world, violent religious
extremists were plotting ways to advance their radical aims and their
grim ideology. We saw the results in a series of horrifying blows: the
truck bombing of the World Trade Center, the attack of Khobar Towers,
the bombing of our Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the strike on
the USS Cole.
For many years, America treated these attacks as isolated incidents
and responded with limited measures. And then came September the 11th,
2001. In the space of a single morning, we realized that we were facing
a worldwide movement of fanatics pledged to our destruction. We saw that
conditions of repression and despair on the other side of the world
could bring suffering and death to our own streets.
As a result, America reshaped our approach to national security.
Here at home, we hardened our defenses and created the Department of
Homeland Security. We gave our national security professionals vital new
tools, like the PATRIOT Act and the ability to monitor terrorist
communications. We reorganized our intelligence community to better meet
the needs of war against these terrorists, including increasing the
number of intelligence officers. We deployed aggressive financial
measures to freeze their assets and to cut off their money. We launched
diplomatic initiatives to pressure our adversaries and attract new
partners to our cause.
We also made dramatic changes to both our military strategy and
our--the military itself. We resolved that we would not wait to be
attacked again, and so we went on the offense against the terrorists
overseas so we never had to face them here at home. We recognized that
we needed strong partners at our side, so we helped strengthen the
counterterrorism capabilities of our allies. We understood, as I said
here at West Point in 2002, ``If we wait for threats to fully
materialize, we will have waited too long.'' So we made clear that
hostile regimes sponsoring terror or pursuing weapons of mass
destruction would be held to account.
We concluded that we are engaged in an ideological struggle, so we
launched an effort to discredit the hateful vision of the extremists and
advance the hopeful alternative of freedom. We saw the urgency of
staying a step ahead of our enemies, so we transformed our military both
to prevail on the battlefields of today and to meet the threats of
tomorrow.
These changes will have a direct impact on your military careers.
This morning I'm going to give you a report on where we stand in each of
these areas and the challenges that lie ahead.
First, within weeks of September the 11th, our Armed Forces began
taking the fight to the terrorists around the world, and we have not
stopped. From the Horn of Africa to the islands of Southeast Asia to
wherever these thugs hide, we and our allies applied the full range of
military and intelligence assets to keep unrelenting pressure on Al
Qaida and its affiliates. We have severely weakened the terrorists.
We've disrupted plots to attack our homeland. We have captured or killed
hundreds of Al Qaida leaders and operatives in more than two dozen
countries, including the man who mastermind the 9/11 attacks, Khalid
Sheikh Mohammed.
The terrorists continue to pose serious challenges, as the world saw
in the terrible attack in Mumbai last month. Al Qaida's top two leaders
remain at large. Yet they are facing pressure so intense that the only
way they can stay alive is to stay underground. The day will come, the
day will come when they receive the justice they deserve.
Second, we've helped key partners and allies strengthen their
capabilities in the fight against the terrorists. We've increased
intelligence sharing with friends and allies around the world. We've
provided training and support to counterterrorism partners
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like the Philippines and Indonesia and Jordan and Saudi Arabia. These
partners have made enormous contributions in the war on terror. For
example, Indonesia has crippled the terrorist group JI. Saudi Arabia has
killed or captured hundreds of Al Qaida terrorists. And in Europe,
security services have broken up terrorist cells in Germany and Denmark,
in Turkey and the United Kingdom.
One of the most important challenges we will face, and you will
face, in the years ahead is helping our partners assert control over
ungoverned spaces. This problem is most pronounced in Pakistan, where
areas along the Afghanistan border are home to Taliban and to Al Qaida
fighters. The Pakistani Government and people understand the threat,
because they have been victims of terror themselves. They're working to
enforce the law and fight terror in the border areas. And our Government
is providing strong support for these efforts. And at the same time, we
have made it clear to Pakistan, and to all our partners, that we will do
what is necessary to protect American troops and the American people.
Third, we have made clear that governments that sponsor terror are
as guilty as the terrorists and will be held to account. After 9/11, we
applied the doctrine to Afghanistan. We removed the Taliban from power.
We shut down training camps where Al Qaida planned the attacks on our
country. We liberated more than 25 million Afghans. Now America and our
25 NATO allies and 17 partner nations are standing with the Afghan
people as they defend their free society. The enemy is determined, the
terrain is harsh, and the battle is difficult, but our coalition will
stay in this fight. We will not let the Taliban or Al Qaida return to
power. And Afghanistan will never again be a safe haven for terrorists.
We also took a hard look at the danger posed by Iraq, a country that
combined support for terror, the development and the use of weapons of
mass destruction, violence against its own people, aggression against
its neighbors, hostility to the United States, and systemic violation of
United Nations resolutions. After seeing the destruction of September
the 11th, we concluded that America could not afford to allow a regime
with such a threatening and violent record to remain in the heart of the
Middle East. So we offered Saddam Hussein a final chance to peacefully
resolve the issue. And when he refused, we acted with a coalition of
nations to protect our people and liberated 25 million Iraqis.
The battle in Iraq has been longer and more difficult than expected.
Foreign terrorists, former regime elements, and Iraqi insurgents--often
with outside support--combined to drive up violence and bring the
country to the verge of chaos. So we adopted a new strategy, and rather
than retreating, sent more troops into Baghdad in Iraq. And when the
surge met its objective, we began to bring our troops home under a
policy of return on success. Last week, Iraq approved two agreements
that formalize diplomatic and economic and security ties with America
and set a framework for the drawdown of American forces as the fight in
Iraq nears a successful end.
Fourth, America recognized the only way to defeat the terrorists in
the long run is to present an alternative to their hateful ideology. So
when we overthrew the dictators in Afghanistan and Iraq, we refused to
take the easy option and instill friendly strongmen in their place.
Instead, we're doing the tough work of helping democratic societies
emerge as examples for people all across the Middle East. We're pressing
nations around the world, including our friends, to trust their people
with greater freedom of speech and worship and assembly. We're advancing
a broader vision of reform that includes economic prosperity and quality
health care and education and vibrant civil societies and women's
rights.
The results of these efforts are unfolding slowly and unevenly, but
there are encouraging signs. From Iraq and Afghanistan to
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Lebanon and Pakistan, voters defied the terrorists to cast their ballots
in free elections. In places like Iraq's Anbar Province, people have
seen what life under the Taliban looks like, and they decided they want
no part it--actually, it was life under Al Qaida looks like.
You know, mothers don't want to raise their child in a neighborhood
where thugs run and where thugs brutalize people. People want to live in
peace. People want to live in freedom. Muslims from Jordan and Turkey to
India and Indonesia have seen their brothers and sisters massacred and
recoil from the terrorists. And even within the jihadist ranks,
religious scholars have begun to criticize Al Qaida and its brutal
tactics. In these ideological rejections, we see the beginning of Al
Qaida's ultimate demise, because in the long run, the ideology of hatred
and fear cannot possibly compete with the power of hope and freedom.
Finally, we are transforming our military for a new kind of war that
we're fighting now and for wars of tomorrow. This transformation was a
top priority for the enterprising leader who served as my first
Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
Today, because of his leadership and the leadership of Secretary Bob
Gates, we have made our military better
trained, better equipped, and better prepared to meet the threats facing
America today and tomorrow and long in the future.
As part of our transformation effort, we are arming our troops with
intelligence and weapons and training and support they need to face an
enemy that wages asymmetric battle. See, this enemy hides among the
civilian population, and they use terror tactics like roadside bombs to
attack our forces, to demoralize local population, and to try to shake
the will of the American people.
To defeat this enemy, we have equipped our troops with real-time
battlefield intelligence capabilities that would have been unimaginable
just a few years ago. In Iraq and Afghanistan, troops in the field have
used advanced technologies like global positioning systems to direct air
strikes that take out the enemy while sparing innocent life. We've
expanded America's arsenal of unmanned aerial vehicles from fewer than
170 when I took office to more than 6,000 today. We're arming Predator
drones. We're using them to stay on the hunt against the terrorists who
would do us harm.
We've expanded America's special operations forces. With more
forces--more of these forces on the battlefield, we can respond more
quickly to actionable intelligence on the terrorists who are in hiding.
Over the past 8 years, we have more than doubled funding for special
operators. We created the first-ever special operations command within
the Marines. We have given Special Operations Command the lead role in
the global war against the terrorists.
In addition to these upgrades in our counterterrorism capabilities,
we have placed a new focus on counterinsurgency. The Army has published
a new counterinsurgency manual written by a distinguished graduate of
this academy, General David Petraeus. The
central objectives of this counterinsurgency strategy are to secure the
population and gain support of the people and train local forces to take
the responsibility on their own.
One of the reasons we're meeting these objectives in Iraq is the
ability to rapidly deploy brigade combat teams. These teams can join the
battle on short notice as organized and cohesive units. With these teams
in the fight, our Army is better able to carry out its counterinsurgency
objectives and better equipped to defeat the enemies we'll face as the
21st century unfolds.
Our counterinsurgency strategy also stresses the importance of
following up security gains with real benefits in people's daily lives.
To better meet that objective, we created Provincial Reconstruction
Teams or PRTs. These teams pair with
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military personnel civilian experts in areas like economics and
agriculture and law enforcement and education. In both Iraq and
Afghanistan, these teams are helping local communities create jobs and
deliver basic services and keep the terrorists from coming back. PRTs
bring diplomats, aid workers, and other experts from across the
government into the fight, and we must expand them in the years to come.
To better institutionalize all the changes we've made in recent
years, we have transformed the education and training our troops
receive. We're taking the lessons we've learned in Afghanistan and Iraq
and teaching them at military academies and training centers across our
country. For example, every branch of the military now receives the
counterinsurgency training that was once reserved for special operations
forces. Here at West Point, you've created a new Combating Terrorism
Center that allows you to gain insights from the battles of today and
apply them as you lead our military into the future.
In addition to making these changes to help our troops prevail in
the war on terror, we've been transforming our military since early 2001
to confront other challenges that may emerge in the decades ahead. For
example, we have begun the most sweeping transformation of America's
global force posture since the end of World War II. We're shifting
troops from cold war garrisons in Europe and Asia so they can surge more
rapidly to troubled spots around the world. We've established new
military commands to meet challenges unique to Africa and to support our
homeland.
We've invested more than a half a trillion dollars in research and
development, so we can build even more advanced capabilities to protect
America from the dangers of a new century. We're making our forces more
joint and interoperable, so they can cooperate seamlessly across
different services and with foreign partners. And to confront an
emerging threat to our economy, our defense systems, and individual
citizens, the Federal Government is cooperating closely with the private
sector to improve security in cyberspace.
One of the most serious dangers facing our people is the threat of a
rogue regime armed with ballistic missiles. In 2001, I announced
withdrawal from the ABM Treaty. I did so because it constrained our
ability to develop the technologies needed to defend ourselves against
the threat of blackmail by rogue states. With these constraints removed,
we have developed and deployed new defenses capable of protecting
American cities from ballistic missile attack.
This system can now defend America against limited missile attacks
from Northeast Asia. Concluded agreements with Poland and the Czech
Republic to establish missile defense sites on their territories to help
protect against ballistic missile attacks from the Middle East. Because
we acted, America now has an initial capability to protect our people
from a ballistic missile attack.
As we built new defenses against a missile attack, we also worked
with Russia to make historic reductions in offensive nuclear weapons.
When these reductions are complete, the total U.S. nuclear stockpile
will be at its lowest level since the Eisenhower administration. These
reductions are part of a new approach to strategic deterrence that
relies on both nuclear and conventional strike forces, as well as strong
defenses. We're investing in new technologies that will ensure the long-
term safety and security and reliability and effectiveness of our
nuclear deterrent. This approach sends a clear message to the world:
We'll reduce our reliance on nuclear weapons while keeping America's
strategic deterrent unchallenged.
With all the actions we've taken these past 8 years, we've laid a
solid foundation on which future Presidents and future military leaders
can build. America's military today is stronger, more agile, and better
prepared to confront threats to our people than it was 8 years ago. In
the years ahead,
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our Nation must continue developing the capabilities to take the fight
to our enemies across the world. We must stay on the offensive. We must
be determined, and we must be relentless to do our duty to protect the
American people from harm.
We must stand by the friends and allies who are making tough
decisions and taking risks to defeat the terrorists. We must keep up the
pressure on regimes that sponsor terror and pursue weapons of mass
destruction. We must continue to support dissidents and reformers who
are speaking out against extremism and in favor of liberty. We must
continue transforming our Armed Forces so that the next generation
inherits a military that is capable of keeping the American people safe
and advancing the cause of peace. And above all, we must always ensure
that our troops have the funds and resources they need to do their jobs
and that their families receive the full support they deserve.
I have great confidence in the future because I have confidence in
you all. Ultimately, the security of our Nation depends on the courage
of those who wear the uniform. I see that courage in all of you. I thank
you for your patriotism. I thank you for your devotion to duty. May God
bless you in all your endeavors. May God bless your families, and may
God continue to bless the United States of America.
Note: The President spoke at 11:25 a.m. in Eisenhower Hall. In his
remarks, he referred to Lt. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck, USA,
superintendent, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, who introduced the
President, and his wife Judy; Brig. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, USA,
commandant, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Brig. Gen. Patrick
Finnegan, USA, dean, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and his wife
Joan; and Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA, commander, U.S. Central Command.
The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
transcript of these remarks.