On December 6th, five heavily-armed terrorists attacked the U.S. Consul General's compound in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Eight people were killed in the assault, including four local consulate employees and a guard. Three of the five gunmen who breached the compound's security gate were also killed. Saudi security forces apprehended the other two attackers.
This attack and other acts of terrorism, said President George W. Bush, will not deter the United States:
"The attacks in Saudi Arabia remind us that the terrorists are still on the move. They're interested in affecting the will of free countries. They want us to leave Saudi Arabia. They want us to leave Iraq. They want us to grow timid and weary in the face of their willingness to kill randomly and kill innocent people."
Mr. Bush said that is why the upcoming elections in Iraq are so important in the fight against terrorism:
"People willing to blow up people by the use of car bombs will do anything they can to stop democracy. And there is a reason why -- because a free society in Iraq will be a major defeat for the terrorists. The capacity of these killers to stop an election would send a wrong signal to the world, and send a wrong signal to the Iraqi people themselves."
Success in Iraq will be a victory for the security of the civilized world. Terrorists know this. Their fear is that one day, the Middle East will shed itself of tyranny and violence and will replace the law of terror with governments of the people.
The terrorists who attack in Saudi Arabia, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, or anywhere where people long for freedom, will not succeed. In the words of President Bush, "The appeal of justice and liberty, in the end, is greater than the appeal of hatred and tyranny in any form. The war on terror will not end in a draw. It will end in victory.”
