The United States and eighty-three other nations around the world are united against a common danger, and joined in a common purpose: the defeat of a global terrorist network.
Terrorists have struck from Spain to Russia, from Israel to East Africa, from Morocco to the Philippines. Terrorists have targeted the U.S. and Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Yemen. They have attacked Muslims in Indonesia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
President George W. Bush says, “No nation or region is exempt from the terrorists’ campaign of violence”:
“Each of these attacks on the innocent is a shock, and a tragedy, and a test of our will. Each attack is designed to demoralize our people and divide us from one another. And each attack must be answered, not only with sorrow, but with greater determination, deeper resolve, and bolder action against the killers. It is the interest of every country, and the duty of every government, to fight and destroy this threat to our people.”
On a tape claiming responsibility for the March 11th bombings in Madrid, a man is heard to say, “We choose death, while you choose life.” This, says President Bush, “expresses the creed of the enemy”:
“It is a mind-set that rejoices in suicide, incites murder, and celebrates every death we mourn... We do love life, the life given to us and to all. We believe in the values that uphold the dignity of life -- tolerance, and freedom, and the right of conscience. And we know that this way of life is worth defending. There is no neutral ground -- no neutral ground -- in the fight between civilization and terror, because there is no neutral ground between good and evil, freedom and slavery, and life and death.”
The U.S., its friends, and allies are using the tools of finance, intelligence, law enforcement, and military power to break terrorist networks. Not every country joins every mission, or participates in the same way. “Yet every nation makes a vital contribution,” says President Bush. “These killers will be tracked down and found, they will face their day of justice.”
