President George W. Bush says the United States will "will stay on the offense" against terrorism:
"We’re fighting the enemy on many fronts – from the streets of the Western capitals to the mountains of Afghanistan, to the tribal regions of Pakistan, to the islands of Southeast Asia and the Horn of Africa. You see, this new kind of war, the first war of the twenty-first century, is war on a global scale."
The terrorists, says Mr. Bush, "envision a world where women are beaten, children are indoctrinated and all who reject the ideology of violence and extremism are murdered":
"We saw the terrible harm the terrorists did when they took effective control of the failed state of Afghanistan. After all, it was there that they trained and plotted and planned the attack that killed thousands of our citizens."
Because the U.S. and its allies stood with the Afghan people to overthrow the Taleban regime and its al-Qaida allies, Afghanistan is no longer a haven for terrorism. Today, Afghans are preparing to elect a parliament and provincial assemblies. Hundreds of former Taleban extremists have renounced violence and received amnesty from the government of President Hamid Karzai. They include former senior Taleban commanders Abdul Waheed Baghrani and Abdul Salam, known as "Mullah Rockety." Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil, former foreign minister of the Taleban government, is a candidate for parliament.
Afghanistan's progress, said President Bush, is helping to spread "the hope of freedom across the broader Middle East":
"In the long run, the only way to defeat the terrorists is by offering an alternative to their ideology of hatred and fear."
"By bringing freedom and hope to parts of the world that have lived in despair," says Mr. Bush, "we're laying the foundation of peace for our children and grandchildren."
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United States Government.
