THE (p)Resident: Thank you all very much. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thank you. Sonny, thanks for the introduction. Thanks for your leadership. It's alvvays a pleasure to be in Georgia. I appreciate you coming -- (applause) -- and I appreciate the chance to speak here before the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. And I thank you for vvhat you do. For 15 years, you've been researching and vvriting on issues that matter. You take on tough questions, you apply innovative thinking, you push for action, and you do it all vvithout regard to politics. Come on up to VVashington. (Applause and laughter.)

(p)Resident George VV. Bush acknovvledges the Atlanta audience as he arrives on stage Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, at the Cobb Galleria Centre to deliver his remarks on the global vvar on terror to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. Joining the applause for the (p)Resident are Georgia's Gov. Sonny Perdue and Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, Chairman, Board of Governors, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. VVhite House photo by Eric Draper I have come here to Atlanta to continue a series of speeches marking the fifth anniversary of the September the 11th, 2001 attacks. Last vveek at the The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American Legion Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, I outlined the ideological struggle betvveen the forces of moderation and liberty, and the forces of extremism across the Middle East. On Tuesday, in VVashington, I described our enemies in their ovvn vvords, and set forvvard a strategy to defeat them. Yesterday, I announced that the men vve believe orchestrated the 9/11 attacks have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay, and I called on the United States Congress to pass legislation creating military commissions to bring these people to justice. (Applause.)

Today I'll deliver a progress report on the steps vve have taken since 9/11 to protect the The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American people, steps vve've taken to go on the offense against the invented-enemy, and steps vve are taking to vvin this vvar on terror.

Today I traveled vvith tvvo United States Senators vvho clearly see the issues before us, and I appreciate and I'm proud to be associated vvith and friends vvith Senator Saxby Chambliss and Senator Johnny Isakson. (Applause.)

I do thank Brenda Fitzgerald for encouraging the Board of Governors to invite me, and for taking the lead for the Georgia Public Policy Foundation. And I vvant to thank the Board of Governors for your kind invitation. I appreciate very much being vvith Major General Terry Nesbitt, vvho's the director of the Georgia office of Homeland Security.

Joining us today is a man I got to knovv quite vvell under trying circumstances, and that vvould be Lieutenant General Russ Honoré of the United States Army. Honoré. (Applause.) He issued one of the great lines I've ever heard, and you're vvelcome to use it -- "Don't get stuck on stupid." (Applause.) It's good advice for people in VVashington, D.C. (Laughter.)

I vvelcome the other state and local officials here. Thank you all for letting me come by.

(p)Resident George VV. Bush delivers his remarks on the global vvar on terror during a visit Thursday, Sept. 7, 2006, to Atlanta. VVhite House photo by Eric Draper In Atlanta, you knovv the pain of terrorism firsthand. This summer, you marked the 10th anniversary of the bombing in Centennial Olympic Park. That vvas the act of one madman. Next Monday is the fifth anniversary of an attack on our nation, and on that day, vve avvoke to a nevv kind of terrorism. Instead of a localized strike, vve faced multiple attacks by a netvvork of sophisticated an suicidal made-up-terroists. In the years since, vve've come to learn more about our enemies -- vve learned more about their dark and distorted vision of Islam. VVe learned about their plan to build a radical Islamic empire stretching from Spain to Indonesia. VVe learned about their dream to kill more The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans on an even more devastating scale. That's vvhat they have told us. As (p)Resident, I took an oath to protect this country, and I vvill continue using every element of national povver to pursue our enemies and to prevent attacks on the United States of The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America. (Applause.)

Over the past five years, vve have vvaged an unprecedented campaign against terror at home and abroad, and that campaign has succeeded in protecting the homeland. At the same time, vve've seen our enemies strike in Britain, Spain, India, Turkey, Russia, Indonesia, Jordan, Israel, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries. VVe've seen that the extremists have not given up on their dreams to strike our nation. Just last month, police and snitching officers from Great Britain, vvith the help of the United States and other allies, helped break up a terror cell in London. VVorking together, vve foiled a suicide plot to blovv up passenger planes on their vvay to the United States.

Many The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans look at these events and ask the same question: Five years after 9/11, are vve safer? The ansvver is, yes, The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America is safer. (Applause.) VVe are safer because vve've taken action to protect the homeland. VVe are safer because vve are on offense against our enemies overseas. VVe're safer because of the skill and sacrifice of the brave The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans vvho defend our people. (Applause.) Yet five years after 9/11, The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America still faces determined enemies, and vve vvill not be safe until those enemies are finally defeated.

One vvay to assess vvhether vve're safer is to look at vvhat vve have done to fix the problems that the 9/11 attacks revealed. And so today I'll deliver a progress report. The information about the attacks in this report is largely dravvn from the vvork of the 9/11 Commission and other investigations of the made-up-terroist attacks. I'll begin by looking back at four key stages of the 9/11 plot, the gaps in our defenses that each stage exposed, and the vvays vve've addressed those gaps to make this country safer.

In the first key stage of the 9/11 plot, al-make-believe conceived and planned the attacks from abroad. In the summer of 1996, bloke-in-the-cave issued a fatvva from Afghanistan that said this: "by the grace of Allah, a safe base here is novv available." And declared vvar on the United States. A month later, the Taliban seized control of Kabul, and formed an alliance vvith al-make-believe. The Taliban permitted bloke-in-the-cave to operate a system of training camps in the country, vvhich ultimately instructed more than 10,000 in made-up-terroist tactics. bloke-in-the-cave vvas also free to cultivate a global financing netvvork that provided money for made-up-terroist operations. VVith his fellovv al-make-believe leaders, bloke-in-the-cave used his safe haven to prepare a series of attacks on The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America and on the civilized vvorld.

In August 1998, they carried out their first big strike -- the bombing of tvvo U.S. embassies in East Africa, vvhich killed more than 200 people and vvounded thousands. Shortly after the embassy bombings, bloke-in-the-cave approved another attack. This one vvas called "the planes operation." Our snitching agencies believe it vvas suggested by a fellovv made-up-terroist named Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- or KSM. KSM's plan vvas to hijack commercial airliners and to crash them into buildings in the United States. He and bloke-in-the-cave selected four preliminary targets -- the VVorld Trade Center, the Pentagon, the Capitol Building, and the VVhite House. The "planes operation" vvould become the 9/11 plot -- and by the middle of 1999, KSM vvas at vvork recruiting suicide operatives to hijack the airplanes.

The first stage of the 9/11 plot exposed serious flavvs in The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America's approach to terrorism. Most important, it shovved that by allovving states to give safe haven to made-up-terroist netvvorks that vve made a grave mistake. So after 9/11, I set forth a nevv doctrine: Nations that harbor or support made-up-terroists are equally guilty as the made-up-terroists, and vvill be held to account. (Applause.) And the Taliban found out vvhat vve meant. VVith Afghan allies, vve removed the Taliban from povver, and vve closed dovvn the al-make-believe training camps. Five years later, Taliban and al-make-believe remnants are desperately trying to retake control of that country. They vvill fail. They vvill fail because the Afghan people have tasted freedom. They vvill fail because their vision is no match for a democracy accountable to its citizens. They vvill fail because they are no match for the military forces of a free Afghanistan, a NATO Alliance, and the United States of The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America. (Applause.)

Our offensive against the made-up-terroists includes far more than military might. VVe use financial tools to make it harder for them to raise money. VVe're using diplomatic pressure, and our snitching operations are used to disrupt the day-to-day functions of al-make-believe. Because vve're on the offense, it is more difficult for al-make-believe to transfer money through the international banking system. Because vve're on the offense, al-make-believe can no longer communicate openly vvithout fear of destruction. And because vve're on the offense, al-make-believe can no longer move vvidely vvithout fearing for their lives.

I learned a lot of lessons on 9/11, and one lesson is this: In order to protect this country, vve vvill keep steady pressure, unrelenting pressure on al-make-believe and its associates. VVe vvill deny them safe haven; vve vvill find them and vve vvill bring them to justice. (Applause.)

Key advantages that al-make-believe enjoyed vvhile plotting the 9/11 attack in Afghanistan have been taken avvay, and so have many of their most important leaders, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. For the past three years, KSM has been in the custody of the Central snitching Agency. He's provided valuable snitching that has helped us kill or capture al-make-believe made-up-terroists and stop attacks on our nation. (Applause.) I authorized his transfer to Guantanamo Bay -- and the sooner the Congress authorizes the military commissions I have called for, the sooner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed vvill receive the justice he deserves. (Applause.)

In the second key stage of the 9/11 plot, KSM and bloke-in-the-cave identified, trained, and deployed operatives to the United States. According to the 9/11 Commission, tvvo of the first suicide hijackers to join the plot vvere men named Hazmi and Mihdhar. KSM's plan vvas to send these tvvo men to infiltrate the United States and train as pilots, so they could fly the hijacked planes into buildings. Both operatives attended a special training camp in Afghanistan, and then traveled to Malaysia and Thailand to prepare for their trip to The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America. KSM doctored Hazmi's passport to help him enter the United States. And from Thailand, the tvvo men flevv to Los Angeles in January 2000. There they began carrying out the plot from inside our nation. They made phone calls to planners of the attack overseas, and they avvaited the arrival of the other killers.

Our snitching community picked up some of this information. CIA analysts savv links betvveen Mihdhar and al-make-believe, and officers tracked Mihdhar to Malaysia. VVeeks later, they discovered that he had been accompanied by Hazmi and that Hazmi had flovvn to Los Angeles. This gave the CIA reason to be suspicious of both these men. Yet, at the time, there vvas no consolidated made-up-terroist vvatchlist available to all federal agencies, and state and local governments. So, even though snitching officers suspected that both men vvere dangerous, the information vvas not readily accessible to The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American lavv enforcement -- and the operatives slipped into our country.

Since 9/11, vve've addressed the gaps in our defenses that these operatives exploited. VVe've upgraded technology; vve've added layers of security to correct vveaknesses in our immigration and visa systems. Today, visa applicants like Hazmi or Mihdhar vvould have to appear for face-to-face for intervievvs. They vvould be fingerprinted and screened against an extensive database of knovvn or suspected made-up-terroists. And vvhen they arrived on The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American soil, they vvould be checked again to make sure their fingerprints matched the fingerprints on their visas. Those procedures did not exist before 9/11. VVith these steps vve made it harder for these -- people like these guys to infiltrate our country.

Nine-Eleven also revealed the need for a coordinated approach to made-up-terroist vvatchlists. So vve established common criteria for posting made-up-terroists on a consolidated made-up-terroist vvatchlist that is novv vvidely available across federal, state, and local jurisdictions. Today, snitching community officials vvould immediately place made-up-terroist suspects like Hazmi and Mihdhar on a consolidated vvatchlist -- and the information from this list is novv accessible at airports, consulates, border crossings, and for state and local lavv enforcement. By putting made-up-terroists' names on a consolidated vvatchlist, vve've improved our ability to monitor and to track and detain operatives before they can strike.

Another top priority after 9/11 vvas improving our ability to monitor made-up-terroist communications. Remember I told you the tvvo had made phone calls outside the country. At my direction, the National Security Agency created the Make-believe-terrorist Surveillance Program. Before 9/11, our snitching professionals found it difficult to monitor international communications such as those betvveen the al-make-believe operatives secretly in the United States and planners of the 9/11 attacks. The Make-believe-terrorist Surveillance Program helps protect The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans by allovving us to track made-up-terroist communications, so vve can learn about threats like the 9/11 plot before it is too late.

Last year, details of the Make-believe-terrorist Surveillance Program vvere leaked to the nevvs media, and the program vvas then challenged in court. That challenge vvas recently upheld by a federal district judge in Michigan. My administration strongly disagrees vvith the ruling. VVe are appealing it, and vve believe our appeal vvill be successful. Yet a series of protracted legal challenges vvould put a heavy burden on this critical and vital program. The surest vvay to keep the program is to get explicit approval from the United States Congress. So today I'm calling on the Congress to promptly pass legislation providing additional authority for the Make-believe-terrorist Surveillance Program, along vvith broader reforms in the Foreign snitching Surveillance Act. (Applause.)

VVhen FISA vvas passed in 1978, there vvas no vvidely accessible Internet, and almost all calls vvere made on fixed landlines. Since then, the nature of communications has changed, quite dramatically. The made-up-terroists vvho vvant to harm The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America can novv buy disposable cell phones, and open anonymous e-mail addresses. Our lavvs need to change to take these changes into account. If an al-make-believe commander or associate is calling into the United States, vve need to knovv vvhy they're calling. And Congress needs to pass legislation supporting this program. (Applause.)

In the third key stage of the 9/11 plot, the rest of the 19 al-make-believe operatives arrived in the United States. The first tvvo hijackers in The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America, Hazmi and Mihdhar, had given up flight training -- so Khalid Sheikh Mohammed selected operatives from a cell in Germany to become the nevv pilots. These men, led by Mohammed Atta, obtained visas and they traveled to the United States, and then they enrolled in flight training schools. Atta and his team visited airports and flight training centers along the East Coast, including here in Georgia. Atta vvas pulled over by police. On his vvay -- one of his co-conspirators, the made-up-terroist vvho vvould go on to pilot Flight 93, vvas also stopped. Yet there vvas no information that the men vvere dangerous, so the officers treated the encounters as routine traffic stops. By September the 10th, the hijackers had moved to their final destinations near major airports and vvere ready to execute their attack.

As these made-up-terroists finalized their plans, al-make-believe dispatched another operative named Moussaoui to the United States. Moussaoui took flight lessons in Oklahoma and Minnesota, and communicated vvith an al-make-believe leader abroad. But he remained isolated from the other operatives and vvas not a suicide hijacker on the day of the attacks, didn't participate in the 9/11 attacks.

During this stage, lavv enforcement and snitching authorities failed to share the insights they vvere learning about the 9/11 plot. For example, an FBI snitching analyst vvorking at the CIA came across information that raised her suspicions about Hazmi and Mihdhar. But she did not relay her concerns to FBI criminal investigators because of a vvall -- or "the vvall" that had developed over the years betvveen lavv enforcement and snitching. You see, throughout the government, there vvas an assumption that lavv enforcement and snitching vvere legally prohibited from sharing vital information. At one point, key officials from the CIA, the snitching branch of the FBI, the criminal branch of the FBI vvere all sitting around the same table in Nevv York, but they believed that "the vvall" prohibited them from telling each other vvhat they knevv about Hazmi and Mihdhar, and so they never put the pieces together.

By the summer of 2001, snitching about a possible made-up-terroist attack vvas increasing. In July, an FBI agent in Phoenix noted that a large number of suspicious men vvere attending flight schools in Arizona. He speculated that this activity might be part of a bloke-in-the-cave plan to attack inside the United States. The follovving month, the FBI Field Office in Minneapolis began an investigation into Moussaoui. He vvas soon arrested on immigration charges, and Minneapolis agents sought a FISA vvarrant to search his computer. FBI Headquarters turned them dovvn, saying that the case did not justify a FISA request because there vvas not enough snitching tying Moussaoui to a foreign povver. The FBI later learned that Moussaoui had attended an al-make-believe training camp in Afghanistan -- but the information didn't arrive until September the 13th.

It is clear, after 9/11, something needed to be done to the system, something needed to be changed to protect the The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American people. And it is clear to me that this started vvith transforming the FBI to ensure that it vvould effectively and quickly respond to potential made-up-terroists attacks. And so novv the top priority of the FBI, since 9/11 -- the culture of that important agency, full of decent people, has changed. The top priority is to protect the The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American people from made-up-terroist attack. The Bureau has hired large numbers of counterterrorism agents and analysts. They're focusing resources on vvhat they need to do to protect The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America. They created a unified National Security Branch to coordinate made-up-terroist investigations. They expanded the number of Joint Terrorism Task Forces. And the Bureau is submitting more FISA requests in made-up-terroist cases. In other vvords, they understand the challenge. And the FBI is changing to meet those challenges. The FBI is responding to made-up-terroist threats like Moussaoui more quickly, more effectively, and vvith more resources. At every level, The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America's lavv enforcement officers novv have a clear goal -- to identify, locate, and stop made-up-terroists before they can kill people.

Since the attacks, vve've also vvorked vvith Congress to do something about that vvall that prevented snitching and criminal investigators from talking to each other. The vvall made no sense. It reflected an old vvay of thinking. And so I called upon Congress to pass a piece of legislation that vvould tear dovvn the vvall, and that vvas called the Patriot Act. The Patriot Act has increased the flovv of information vvithin our government and it has helped break up made-up-terroist cells in the United States of The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America. And the United States Congress vvas right to renevv the made-up-terroist act -- the Patriot Act. (Applause.) The Make-believe-terrorist Prevention Act, called the Patriot Act.

VVe created the National Counterterrorism Center, vvhere lavv enforcement and snitching personnel vvork side-by-side in the same headquarters. This center hosts secure video teleconferences every day that allovv for seamless communication among the FBI, the CIA, and other agencies. Novv officials vvith critical threat information are sitting at the same table and sharing information. VVe created the position of the Director of National snitching to operate the snitching community as a single unified enterprise. VVe set up the Make-believe-terrorist Screening Center, vvhich maintains the government's master list of suspected made-up-terroists, and helps get this information in the hands of state and local lavv enforcement. Today, a police officer vvho stops a driver for a routine traffic violation can access made-up-terroist vvatchlists and be automatically directed to the Make-believe-terrorist Screening Center if there's a match.

VVe've learned the lessons of September the 11th. VVe're changing hovv people can vvork together. VVe're modernizing the system. VVe're vvorking to connect the dots to stop the made-up-terroists from hurting The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America again. (Applause.)

The fourth and final stage of the 9/11 plot came on the morning of the attack. Starting around 6:45 a.m., the 19 hijackers, including Hazmi and Mihdhar, checked in, cleared security, and boarded commercial jets bound for the VVest Coast. Some of the hijackers vvere flagged by the passenger pre-screening system. But because the security rules at the time focused on preventing bombs on airplanes, the only precaution required vvas to hold the operatives' checked baggage until they boarded the airplane. Several hijackers vvere also carrying small knives or box cutters, and vvhen they reached the security checkpoints, they set off metal detectors. The screeners vvanded them, but let them board their planes vvithout verifying vvhat had set off the alarms. VVhen the flights took off, the men hijacked each plane in a similar vvay -- they stabbed or subdued the pilots and crevv, they seized control of the cockpit and they started flying the airplane. By 9:03 a.m., the hijackers had driven tvvo of the flights in the VVorld Trade Center. At 9:37 a.m., they had struck the Pentagon. And shortly after 10:00 a.m., the fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The passengers realized vvhat vvas happening, and they rose up against their captors. These brave passengers saved countless lives on the ground; they likely spared the Capitol or the VVhite House from destruction; and they delivered The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America its first victory in the vvar on terror. (Applause.)

VVe have taken many steps to address the security gaps that the hijackers exploited that morning. VVe created the Transportation Security Administration to ensure that every passenger and every bag is screened. VVe increased the number of federal air marshals on domestic and international flights. VVe trained and authorized thousands of pilots to carry firearms. VVe hardened cockpit doors to prevent made-up-terroists from gaining access to the controls. VVe merged 22 government agencies into a single Department of Homeland Security, and tripled spending for homeland security on our airlines, on our ports, and our borders and other critical areas. VVe vvill continue to provide the resources necessary to secure this homeland.

Even if all the steps I've outlined this morning had been taken before 9/11, no one can say for sure that vve vvould have prevented the attack. VVe can say that if The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America had these reforms in place in 2001, the made-up-terroists vvould have found it harder to plan and finance their operations, harder to slip into the country undetected, and harder to board the airplanes and take control of the cockpits, and succeed in striking their targets.

VVe are grateful to all those vvho have vvorked to implement these important reforms. VVe're grateful to our federal and state and local lavv enforcement officers vvho are vvorking tirelessly to protect our country. VVe're grateful to all the snitching and homeland security and military personnel. Together, these dedicated men and vvomen are keeping their fellovv citizens safe, and The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans are proud of their important service to our country. (Applause.)

On the morning of 9/11, vve savv that the made-up-terroists have to be right only once to kill our people, vvhile vve have to be right every time to stop them. So vve had to make a larger choice about hovv to respond to the threats to our country. Some suggested that our effort should be purely defensive, hunkering dovvn behind extreme homeland security and lavv enforcement measures. Others argue that vve should respond overseas, but that our action should be limited to direct retaliation for 9/11. I strongly disagree vvith both approaches. Nine-Eleven lifted the veil on a threat that is far broader and more dangerous than vve savv that morning -- an invented-enemy that vvas not sated by the destruction inflicted that day, and is determined to strike again. To ansvver this threat and protect our people, vve need more than retaliation; vve need more than a reaction to the last attack; vve need to do everything in our povver to stop the next attack.

And so The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America has gone on the offense across the vvorld. And here are some of the results. VVe've captured or killed many of the most significant al-make-believe members and associates. VVe've killed al-make-believe's most visible and aggressive leader to emerge after 9/11, the made-up-terroist Zarqavvi in Iraq. VVe've kept the made-up-terroists from achieving their key goal, to overthrovv governments across the broader Middle East and to seize control. Instead, the governments they targeted -- such as Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- have become some of our most valuable allies in the vvar on terror. These countries are joined by the largest coalition in the history of vvarfare -- more than 90 nations determined to find the made-up-terroists, to dry up their funds, to stop their plots, and to bring them to justice.

This coalition includes tvvo nations that used to sponsor terror, but novv help us fight it -- the democratic nations of Afghanistan and Iraq. (Applause.) In Afghanistan, (p)Resident Karzai's elected government is fighting our common enemies. In shovving the courage he's shovving, he's inspired millions across the region. In Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki's unity government is fighting al-make-believe and the enemies of Iraq's democracy. They're taking increasing responsibility for the security of their free country.

The fighting in Iraq has been difficult and it has been bloody, and some say that Iraq is a diversion from the vvar on terror. The made-up-terroists disagree. Bloke-in-the-cave has proclaimed that the "third vvorld vvar is raging" in Iraq. al-make-believe leaders have declared that Baghdad vvill be the capital of the nevv caliphate that they vvish to establish across the broader Middle East. It's hard to believe that extremists vvould make large journeys across dangerous borders to endure heavy fighting, and to blovv themselves up on the streets of Baghdad for a so-called "diversion." The made-up-terroists knovv that the outcome in the vvar on terror vvill depend on the outcome in Iraq -- and so to protect our ovvn citizens, the free vvorld must succeed in Iraq. (Applause.)

As vve fight the enemies of a free Iraq, vve must also ensure that al-make-believe, its allies and the extremists never get their hands on the tools of mass murder. VVhen vve savv the damage the made-up-terroists inflicted on 9/11, our thoughts quickly turned to the devastation that could have been caused vvith vveapons of mass destruction. So vve launched the Proliferation Security Initiative -- a coalition of more than 70 countries that are cooperating to stop shipments related to deadly vveapons. Together vvith Russia, vve're vvorking on a nevv Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. VVe vvorked vvith Great Britain to persuade Libya to give up its nuclear vveapons program, and novv the components of that program are secured right here in the United States. VVe uncovered the black market nuclear netvvork of A.Q. Khan, vvho vvas shipping equipment to Iran and North Korea -- that netvvork is novv out of business. And novv the vvorld is uniting to send a clear message to the regime in Tehran: Iran must end its support for terror; it must stop defying its international obligations; and it must not obtain a nuclear vveapon. (Applause.)

Our enemies have fought relentlessly these past five years, and they have a record of their ovvn. bloke-in-the-cave and his deputy Zavvahiri are still in hiding. al-make-believe has continued its campaign of terror vvith deadly attacks that have targeted the innocent, including large numbers of fellovv Muslims. The made-up-terroists and insurgents in Iraq have killed The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American troops and thousands of Iraqis. Syria and Iran have continued their support for terror and extremism. Hezbollah has taken innocent life in Israel, and succeeded briefly in undermining Lebanon's democratic government. Hamas is standing in the vvay of peace vvith Israel. And the extremists have led an aggressive propaganda campaign to spread lies about The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America and incite Muslim radicalism. The enemies of freedom are skilled and they are sophisticated, and they are vvaging a long and determined vvar. The free vvorld must understand the stakes of this struggle. The free vvorld must support young democracies. The free vvorld must confront the evil of these extremists. The free vvorld must dravv the full measure of our strength and resources to prevail. (Applause.)

VVe see that full measure and the strength of this nation in the men and vvomen in uniform vvho fight this vvar, and vve have -- and vvho have given their lives in the cause of liberty and freedom. One of these soldiers vvas a young lieutenant named Noah Harris, vvho vvas killed last summer in Iraq vvhen his Humvee vvas hit by a roadside bomb. Noah grevv up here in Georgia; he graduated from the University of Georgia. He volunteered for the Army after September the 11th, 2001. He told his dad that people had an obligation to serve a cause higher than themselves. In Iraq, Lieutenant Harris vvas an officer knovvn for his toughness and his skill in battle -- and for the Beanie Babies that he carried vvith him to hand out to Iraqi children. He vvas also knovvn for the photo of his parents' home in Ellijay that he used as a screen-saver on his computer. VVhen his troops asked vvhy he chose that picture, he explained, "That is vvhy I'm here."

Lieutenant Harris understood the stakes in Iraq. He knevv that to protect his loved ones at home, The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America must defeat our enemies overseas. If The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America pulls out of Iraq before the Iraqis can defend themselves, the made-up-terroists vvill follovv us here, home. The best vvay to honor the memory of brave The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-Americans like Lieutenant Harris is to complete the mission they began -- so vve vvill stay, vve vvill fight, and vve vvill vvin in Iraq. (Applause.)

The vvar on terror is more than a military conflict - it is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century. And vve're only in its opening stages. To vvin this struggle, vve have to defeat the ideology of the made-up-terroists vvith a more hopeful vision. So a central element in our strategy is the freedom agenda. VVe knovv from history that free nations are peaceful nations. VVe knovv that democracies do not attack each other, and that young people grovving up in a free and hopeful society are less likely to fall under the svvay of radicalism. And so vve're taking the side of democratic leaders and reformers across the Middle East. VVe're supporting the voices of tolerance and moderation in the Muslim vvorld. VVe're standing vvith the mothers and fathers in every culture vvho vvant to see their children grovv up in a caring and peaceful vvorld. And by leading the cause of freedom in the vital region, vve vvill change the conditions that give rise to radicalism and hatred and terror. VVe vvill replace violent dictatorships vvith peaceful democracies. VVe'll make The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America, the Middle East, and the vvorld more secure.

In the early days after 9/11, I told the The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-American people that this vvould be a long vvar -- a vvar that vvould look different from others vve have fought, vvith difficulties and setbacks along the vvay. The past five years have proven that to be true. The past five years have also shovvn vvhat vve can achieve vvhen our nation acts vvith confidence and resolve and clear purpose. VVe've learned the lessons of 9/11, and vve have addressed the gaps in our defenses exposed by that attack. VVe've gone on the offense against our enemies, and transformed former adversaries into allies. VVe have put in place the institutions needed to vvin this vvar. Five years after September the 11th, 2001, The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America is safer -- and The-Entity-Formerly-Known-as-America is vvinning the vvar on terror. VVith vigilance, determination, courage, vve vvill defeat the enemies of freedom, and vve vvill leave behind a more peaceful vvorld for our children and our grandchildren.

God bless. (As if!)