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U.S. must take preemptive action, Bush says
WEST POINT, N.Y. - President Bush pressed his case Saturday to expand the war against terrorism, telling a new batch of Army officers that America must not only respond to threats but battle a new kind of enemy forcefully and head-on by taking preemptive action.
Bush told the first class to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy since the Sept. 11 attack on America that ''the promise of massive retaliation against nations'' is not enough to guard against ``shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend.''
NO CONTAINMENT
''The war on terror will not be won on the defensive,'' he said. ''We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge.'' The president said a policy of containment would not work against ''unbalanced dictators'' with weapons of mass destruction that can be delivered on planes or sold to terrorists.
Bush appeared to issue a veiled threat to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, though he never mentioned the man or the country by name.
''We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best,'' he said. ``If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.''
Standing at one end of Michie Stadium on a balmy, cloudless morning, Bush told 958 graduates celebrating West Point's 200th anniversary that they would ``stand between your fellow citizens and grave danger.''
''All nations that decide for aggression and terror will pay a price,'' he said. ``We will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants. We will lift this dark threat from our country and from the world.''
Bush made clear that the terrorist risk remains.
''The dangers have not passed,'' he said. ``This government and the American people are on watch. We are ready, because we know the terrorists have more money and more men and more plans.''
MORAL FOUNDATION
Following a European trip in which he confronted opposition to U.S policies, Bush carefully laid a moral foundation for the war on terrorism.
''Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree,'' he said. ``Different circumstances require different methods, but not different moralities. . . . Targeting innocent civilians for murder is always and everywhere wrong. . . .
''There can be no neutrality between justice and cruelty, between the innocent and the guilty. We are in a conflict between good and evil and America will call evil by its name,'' Bush said. ``By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem, we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it.''
Bush told the first class to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy since the Sept. 11 attack on America that ''the promise of massive retaliation against nations'' is not enough to guard against ``shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend.''
NO CONTAINMENT
''The war on terror will not be won on the defensive,'' he said. ''We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge.'' The president said a policy of containment would not work against ''unbalanced dictators'' with weapons of mass destruction that can be delivered on planes or sold to terrorists.
Bush appeared to issue a veiled threat to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, though he never mentioned the man or the country by name.
''We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best,'' he said. ``If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.''
Standing at one end of Michie Stadium on a balmy, cloudless morning, Bush told 958 graduates celebrating West Point's 200th anniversary that they would ``stand between your fellow citizens and grave danger.''
''All nations that decide for aggression and terror will pay a price,'' he said. ``We will not leave the safety of America and the peace of the planet at the mercy of a few mad terrorists and tyrants. We will lift this dark threat from our country and from the world.''
Bush made clear that the terrorist risk remains.
''The dangers have not passed,'' he said. ``This government and the American people are on watch. We are ready, because we know the terrorists have more money and more men and more plans.''
MORAL FOUNDATION
Following a European trip in which he confronted opposition to U.S policies, Bush carefully laid a moral foundation for the war on terrorism.
''Some worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree,'' he said. ``Different circumstances require different methods, but not different moralities. . . . Targeting innocent civilians for murder is always and everywhere wrong. . . .
''There can be no neutrality between justice and cruelty, between the innocent and the guilty. We are in a conflict between good and evil and America will call evil by its name,'' Bush said. ``By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem, we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it.''
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