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Disarmament DocumentationBack to Disarmament Documentation 'NATO Must Be Prepared To Meet The Challenges Of Our Time': Speech by President George W. Bush, May 31'Remarks by the President to the People of Poland, Wawel Royal Castle, Krakow, Poland, May 31, 2003'; The White House, Office of the Press Secretary. ... [A]s the Atlantic alliance has expanded, it has also been tested. America and European countries have been called to confront the threat of global terror. Each nation has faced difficult decisions about the use of military force to keep the peace. We have seen unity and common purpose. We have also seen debate - some of it healthy, some of it divisive. I have come to Krakow to state the intentions of my country. The United States is committed to a strong Atlantic alliance, to ensure our security, to advance human freedom and to keep peace in the world. Poland struggled for decades to gain freedom and to fully participate in life in Europe. And soon you will be a member of the European Union. You also struggled to become a full member of the Atlantic alliance, yet you have not come all this way - through occupations and tyranny and brave uprisings - only to be told that you must now choose between Europe and America. Poland is a good citizen of Europe and Poland is a close friend of America - and there is no conflict between the two. ... This is a time for all of us to unite in the defense of liberty and to step up to the shared duties of free nations. This is no time to stir up divisions in a great alliance. For America, our resolve to fight terror was firmly set on a single day of violence and sorrow. The attacks of September the 11th, 2001, changed my country. On that morning, the American people saw the hatred of our enemies and the future of grief they intend for us. The American government accepted a mission to strike and defeat the terror network and to hold accountable all who harbor it and all who support it. For my country, the events of September the 11th were as decisive as the attack on Pearl Harbor and the treachery of another September in 1939. And the lesson of all those events is the same: aggression and evil intent must not be ignored or appeased; they must be opposed early and decisively. We are striving for a world in which men and women can live in freedom and peace, instead of fear and chaos. And every civilized nation has a stake in the outcome. By waging this fight together, we will speed theday of final victory. One of the main fronts in this war is right here in Europe, where al Qaeda used the cities as staging areas for their attacks. Europe's capable police forces and intelligence services are playing essentialroles in hunting the terrorists. And Poland has led the effort to increase anti-terror cooperation amongst central and eastern Europeannations. And America is grateful. Some challenges of terrorism, however, cannot be met with law enforcement alone. They must be met with direct military action. The Taliban regime in Afghanistan chose to support and harbor al Qaeda terrorists. And so that regime is no more. The dictator in Iraq pursued weapons of mass murder, cultivated ties to terror and defied the demands of the United Nations - so his regime has been ended. In the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq, Polish forces served with skill and honor. America will not forget that Poland rose to the moment. Again you have lived out the words of the Polish motto: for your freedom and ours. In order to win the war on terror, our alliances must be strong. Poland and America are proud members of NATO, and NATO must be prepared to meet the challenges of our time. This is a matter of capability and a matter of will. Our common security requires European governments to invest in modern military capabilities, so our forces can move quickly with a precision that can strike the guilty and spare the innocent. NATO must show resolve and foresight to act beyond Europe, and it has begun to do so. NATO has agreed to lead security forces in Afghanistan and to support our Polish allies in Iraq. A strong NATO alliance, with a broad vision of its role, will serve our security and the cause of peace. The greatest threat to peace is the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. And we must work together to stop proliferation. The countries of the G8 committed last year to aiding Russia and others in securing and eliminating deadly weapons that remain from the Soviet era. I welcome Poland's decision to join this effort. And I call on America's G8 partners to follow through on their financial commitments so that we can stop proliferation at one of its sources. When weapons of mass destruction or their components are in transit, we must have the means and authority to seize them. So today I announce a new effort to fight proliferation called the Proliferation Security Initiative. The United States and a number of our close allies, including Poland, have begun working on new agreements to search planes and ships carrying suspect cargo and to seize illegal weapons or missile technologies. Over time, we will extend this partnership as broadly as possible to keep the world's most destructive weapons away from our shores and out of the hands of our common enemies. In the last 20 months, the world has seen the determination of my country and many others to fight terror. Yet, armed force is always the last resort. And Americans know that terrorism is not defeated by military power alone. We believe that the ultimate answer to hatred is hope. And as we fight the forces of terror, we must also change the conditions in which terror can take root. Terrorism is often bred in failing states, so we must help nations in crisis to build a civil society of free institutions. The ideology of terror takes hold in an atmosphere of resentment and hopelessness, so we must help men and women around the world to build lives of purpose and dignity. ... New theories of rivalry should not be permitted to undermine the great principles and obligations that we share. The enemies of freedom have always preferred a divided alliance - because when Europe and America are united, no problem and no enemy can stand against us. ... © 2003 The Acronym Institute. |