The President's Global War on Terror

Nine days after the world watched in horror as two jumbo jets brought down the Twin towers of the World Trade Center, while two other hijacked planes crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, and a plowed field in Pennsylvania, the President of the United States addressed a joint session of congress.

And tonight, the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban: Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al Qaeda who hide in your land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country. Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities. Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.

These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion. The Taliban must act, and act immediately. They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.

Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.

… By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions -- by abandoning every value except the will to power -- they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.

Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success. We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place, until there is no refuge or no rest. And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.(emphasis mine)

For too many Americans, and other citizens of the world, the war on terror began and ended with the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the expulsion of al-Qaeda from that country. Clouded by decades of ignoring terrorist attacks against America and its allies, the public has been conditioned to believe that all problems can be solved within the confines of a 60 minute television show, or in this case, a quick invasion—victory, and “how about them Yankees!” (In the case of Europe, “how about that World Cup!” but the sentiment is the same…let’s get back to normal)

What Europeans and too many of the left in this country refuse to grasp, is that “normal” is no longer an option!

In a straightforward manner the President spent weeks laying out his vision to the American people, and for all of the world to see. In those weeks following the Sept 11 attacks, the President could not have been more clear as he laid out his plan to wage a Global War on Terror. A war unlike any campaign ever before waged!
Excerpts from President Bush speech Sept. 27, 2001 in Chicago.

We're also a nation that is adjusting to a new type of war. This isn't a conventional war that we're waging. Ours is a campaign that will have to reflect the new enemy. There's no longer islands to conquer or beachheads to storm. We face a brand of evil, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time in the world. These are people who strike and hide, people who know no borders, people who are -- people who depend upon others. And make no mistake about it, the new war is not only against the evildoers, themselves; the new war is against those who harbor them and finance them and feed them.

We will use the military might of the United States. We will use our intelligence-gathering capacity of the United States. We will use every diplomatic means of the United States. We will disrupt their financial networks. We will do everything we can to achieve our objective, which is to rout out and destroy global terrorism.

The president has made assumptions that have not proven out. That early bipartisan coalition of Democrats and Republicans lasted until the first election campaign, and not a moment longer.

This coalition will exist to achieve the mission, and I can assure you our mission will not change to fit any coalition's. America will stand strong. Others will tire and weary; I understand that. But not our nation. Others will get -- Others will second-guess, but not our nation. Others will become impatient, but not this great nation. We will stand firm, and stand strong until we've achieved our mission. We hope everybody follows, but we're marching on. We're marching on to do what's right.

His optimism of the political landscape in this country was, no doubt, colored by his unflagging belief in the American Spirit. A spirit, unfortunately, forgotten by the American left. The ‘60s have long left that spirit trampled in the dust of Vietnam.

Four short months after being attacked by terrorist hiding openly in Afghanistan, that front on terror was already all but over. Before our Afghanistan campaign we were told by critics that it would take 20,000 American lives to take the country, that the British and Russians had both learned their lesson, defeated by the mountainous terrain and the ferocity of the Afghan warriors. We were told we would find ourselves in a “quagmire” before we had even gone to war. It would be another Vietnam, critics charged, and endless cycles of American impotence to combat a guerrilla war.

In the State of the Union address on Jan 29, 2002 the president said this:

What we have found in Afghanistan confirms that, far from ending there, our war against terror is only beginning. Most of the 19 men who hijacked planes on September the 11th were trained in Afghanistan's camps, and so were tens of thousands of others. Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs, set to go off without warning.

For the first time the world began to see the true scope of the President's Global War on Terror. For those unsure of America’s response, and our President’s resolve, he made a clear case for the global nature of the conflict.

While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, America is acting elsewhere. We now have troops in the Philippines, helping to train that country's armed forces to go after terrorist cells that have executed an American, and still hold hostages. Our soldiers, working with the Bosnian government, seized terrorists who were plotting to bomb our embassy. Our Navy is patrolling the coast of Africa to block the shipment of weapons and the establishment of terrorist camps in Somalia.

And then he tipped his hand, giving for the first time, a glimpse of the future, as envisioned by our president and his advisors. In laying out his goals, the ultimate promise of freedom from tyranny for the peoples of the world, was clear for anyone to see.

Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction.

Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th. But we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.

Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people's hope for freedom.

Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens -- leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections -- then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.

The first time we heard this phrase as a nation. Axis of Evil!

When we heard the President make that connection for the first time, many Americans asked themselves, what connection was there? Pundits surmised that the President was merely including North Korea as a means to naming a non-Islamic country. What connection could North Korea have to the war on terror? And, what connection between Iraq and Iran. Everyone knew that the two nations hated each other, had fought a war against each other. How could these nations form an “axis” of anything?

In that same speech he laid out his doctrine of preemption, and to anyone who was willing to pay attention to his words, he made it clear that the war would not end with his presidency.

We'll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons

Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch -- yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch.

In this statement, This campaign may not be finished on our watch—yet it must be waged on our watch, the President has clearly made the case to the American people that the war on terror would be a very long-term fight.
With my next post I will explore the 14-month long “Rush to War” against Iraq, and Saddam Hussein.

Dave Hinz
Team Member