Bush Speech

Bush at his best today, delivering a major War On Terror speech that was originally slated for the 9/11 anniversary but was postponed due to hurricanes.

"Some call this evil Islamic radicalism. Others militant jihadism. Still, others Islamo-fascism."

"This form of radicalism exploits Islam to serve a violent political vision: the establishment, by terrorism and subversion and insurgency, of a totalitarian empire that denies all political and religious freedom. "

"Their tactic to meet this goal has been consistent for a quarter century: They hit us and expect us to run."

"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. "

"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. "

"The hatred of the radicals existed before Iraq
was an issue and it will exist after Iraq is no
longer an excuse."

"Over the years, these extremists have used a litany of excuses for violence: Israeli presence on the West Bank or the U.S. military presence in Saudi Arabia or the defeat of the Taliban or the crusades of a thousand years ago.

"In fact, we're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world."

"Overall, the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious Al Qaida terrorist plots since September the 11th, including three Al Qaida plots to attack inside the United States. We've stopped at least five more Al Qaida efforts to case targets in the United States or infiltrate operatives into our country."

Read the whole thing, or watch the re-broadcast on c-span at 11:00 pm eastern time tonight.
--LynZee