Vice President Cheney Speaks to the Jewish Community
(May 14, 2004)
Speech to the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach
County in Boca Raton.
Thank you. (Laughter.) No comment. Well, I want to
thank you, Adam, for that kind introduction, and thank all of your for
that warm welcome this morning. I appreciate the opportunity to be back
in South Florida, and I'm grateful for the chance to spend a little
time with all of you today. I want to thank the Jewish Federation of
South Palm Beach County for hosting the event -- and more importantly,
for the good work this organization does every day all throughout the
year. From education, to recreation, to senior care, you play playing
a vital role in the lives of Jewish residents and neighbors in the greater
Boca Raton area.
I also want to bring all of you good wishes from our
President, George W. Bush.
(Applause.) The President has many friends in Florida, and even a few
family members. (Applause.)
The President and I are tremendously grateful for the
support we have received in this state, and especially among members
of the Jewish community. It's been absolutely vital, obviously, in our
ability to do our jobs in Washington. It has been honor for me to work
at the President's side during an incredibly challenging period for
America and for our friends around the world. He has taken confident
steps to advance his vision for a free and secure Israel at the heart
of a prosperous and peaceful Middle East. He has defended religious
liberties for all peoples, and stood firmly against anti-Semitism.
And he has helped to strengthen the bond between America
and Israel that has lasted over five decades, while reinforcing
one of America's most valued friendships in the world. (Applause.)
As the President has often said, we have many responsibilities
in the world, but we do not have the luxury of facing them one at a
time. We must move forward on many fronts, simultaneously, keeping in
mind the single, overriding duty of our government: To protect the safety
and security of the American people.
The attacks of September 11, 2001 signaled the arrival
of an entirely new era. Some 3,000 of our fellow citizens died that
morning, including citizens of Israel, and Jews from America and other
nations. Some, like Stephen Belson of Manhattan's Ladder Company 24,
devoted their final minutes to rushing into the burning towers to save
others.
Not long after those attacks, one high-ranking al Qaeda
official said, this is the beginning of the end for America. It's pretty
clear that terrorist had no understanding of the American people. (Applause.)
Because from the night of September 11th to this day, America has left
no doubt where we stand -- we have no illusions about the nature of
this struggle, or the character of the enemy. The recent murder of Nicholas
Berg, like the murder of Daniel Pearl in 2002, is a reminder that there
are evil people in the world capable of any atrocity, and determined
to take innocent life. This nation will never be intimidated by the
killers who despise us and everything we stand for. We are taking this
fight to the enemy, and we will prevail. (Applause.)
Fighting the war on terror has required a shift in
our national security policy. For many years prior to 9/11, terror attacks
against Americans were treated as isolated incidents, as criminal acts,
and answered -- if at all -- on an ad hoc basis, and rarely in a systematic
way. Even after an attack inside our own country -- the 1993 bombing
at the World Trade Center in New York -- there was a tendency to treat
terror attacks as criminal acts to be handled primarily through law
enforcement.
The main perpetrator of that 1993 attack in New York
was tracked down, arrested, convicted, and sent off to serve a 240-year
sentence. Yet behind that man was a growing network with operatives
inside and outside the United States, waging war against our country.
After the World Trade Center attack in 1993 came the murders at the
Saudi Arabian National Guard facility in Riyadh, in 1995; the simultaneous
bombings of our embassies in East Africa -- Kenya and Tanzania -- in
1998; the bombing of the USS Cole, in 2000. In 1996, Khalid Shaykh Mohammad
-- the mastermind of 9/11 -- first proposed to bin Laden that they use
airliners to attack targets in the United States. Later, in 1996 and
again in 1998, Osama bin Laden declared war upon the United States.
During the same period, thousands of terrorists were trained at al Qaeda
camps throughout Afghanistan.
The President and I understand that America requires
an aggressive strategy against these enemies -- not merely to prosecute
a series of crimes, but to fight and win a global campaign against the
terror network. (Applause.) There can be no compromise in this mission.
Our enemy cannot be deterred, contained, appeased, or negotiated with.
It can only be destroyed -- and that's the business at hand. (Applause.)
As we saw on September 11th, our homeland is a battlefield
in the war on terror, and we have made improving defenses here at home
a central part of our strategy. We created the Department of Homeland
Security, and brought together 180,000 federal employees from 22 agencies
with a single purpose -- to defend America. We passed aggressive new
funding for cutting-edge defenses against a biological attack. We also
passed the Patriot Act, to give law enforcement the tools needed to
catch terrorists inside the United States. This is urgent work. More
than two-and-a-half years have passed now since 9/11, yet it would be
a grave mistake to assume the threat to our country and the world has
faded away.
As we have seen in many attacks since 9/11 all over
the world -- in Riyadh, Casablanca, Istanbul, Karbalah, Mombasa, Bali,
Jakarta, Najaf, Jerusalem, Baghdad, and Madrid, terrorists are determined
to intimidate free countries, and even to try to influence elections.
We have to assume they will make further attempts inside the United
States. And every American can be certain: This government will do everything
we can to prevent another terrorist attack in America. (Applause.)
But a good defense is not enough. We have also taken
decisive action to stop the terrorist threat before it reaches our shores.
We are dismantling the financial networks that fund terror against America,
Israel, and other nations. We are working with military personnel and
intelligence services from many nations to go after the terrorists wherever
they plot and plan. From Pakistan to the Philippines to the Horn of
Africa, we are giving our enemies good reason to fear the night.
Of those known to be directly involved in organizing
the attacks of 9/11, most are now in custody or confirmed dead. The
leadership of al Qaeda has sustained heavy losses. And with each passing
day, the terrorists can be confident they will sustain more.
As we work to dismantle the terror networks, we are
also applying the Bush doctrine: Any person or government that supports,
protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent,
and will be held to account. (Applause.) The first to see this doctrine
in application were the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan by violence while
turning that country into a training camp for terrorists. America and
our coalition took down the regime in a matter of weeks because of our
superior technology, and the unmatched skill of our armed forces, and,
above all, because we came not as conquerors but as liberators. The
Taliban are gone from the scene. The terrorist camps are closed. The
Afghan people are reclaiming their own country and building a nation
that is secure, independent, and free.
In Iraq, we took another essential step in the war
on terror. Saddam Hussein brutalized his own people, supported terrorists,
pursued and used weapons of mass destruction, and financed Palestinian
suicide bombers to kill Israelis. Remembering what we saw on the morning
of 9/11, and knowing the nature of our enemies who remain, the President
and I have a clear responsibility to do everything in our power to keep
terrorists from ever acquiring weapons of mass destruction. (Applause.)
Before using force to uphold that responsibility in
Iraq, we tried every possible option to address the threat of Saddam
Hussein. Despite 12 years of diplomacy, more than a dozen Security
Council resolutions, hundreds of U.N. weapons inspectors, thousands
of flights to enforce the no-fly zones, and even strikes against military
targets in Iraq, Saddam Hussein refused to comply with the terms of
the 1991 Gulf War cease-fire. All of these measures failed.
In October of 2002, the United States Congress voted
overwhelmingly to authorize the use of force in Iraq. The next month,
the U.N. Security Council passed a unanimous resolution finding Iraq
in material breach of its obligations, and vowing serious consequences
in the event Saddam Hussein did not fully and immediately comply. When
Saddam failed even then to comply, the President had a choice: To continue
to take the word of a madman, or to take action to defend the security
of America and our allies. Given that choice, George W. Bush will defend
America every time. (Applause.)
Along with more than 30 coalition partners, we have
made enormous progress in the 14 months since the liberation of Iraq
began. In that time, Saddam has gone from palace, to bunker, to spider
hole, to jail. (Applause.) Fourteen months ago, he was the all-powerful
dictator of Iraq, in control of the lives and the future of some 25
million people, free to continue his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction
and his sponsorship of terrorism. Now the people of Iraq -- and all
people of the Middle East and the world -- can be certain that the dictator
and his sons will never threaten them again. (Applause.)
We have vastly improved the quality of life for the
Iraqi people in other ways as well. Our coalition has renovated thousands
of schools, opened hundreds of hospitals, provided clean drinking water,
and rebuilt the electricity grid. Businesses are up and running, a legitimate
judicial system is functioning, industries like telecommunications are
expanding, newspapers are being printed by a free press, and some 200,000
Iraqis are now being retrained to provide for their own defense.
As a byproduct of our actions in Afghanistan and Iraq,
Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, in Libya,
decided that he wanted to forego the development of nuclear weapons.
(Applause.) As we launched into Iraq a year ago, he contacted the President
and Prime Minister Blair and began negotiations to surrender all of
his efforts -- to end all of his efforts to develop nuclear capability.
In December, shortly after Saddam Hussein was captured, Colonel Gadhafi
announced that he was prepared to implement that agreement. And all
of the materials relating to his nuclear program are now in the possession
of the United States. (Applause.)
We still face serious challenges on the ground in Iraq.
Thugs and assassins are desperately trying to shake our will, and to
prevent the rise of democracy, but they will fail. A new transitional
law has been signed that enshrines the protection of individual rights,
and the path forward is clear. On the 30th of June, Iraqi sovereignty
will be placed in Iraqi hands. (Applause.)
Iraq is a central front in our war on terror. The defeat
of tyranny and violence in that nation, and the rise of democracy in
the heart of the Middle East, will be a crucial setback for international
terror. We will do what is necessary - destroying the terrorists, returning
sovereignty to the Iraqi people, and helping them to build a stable
and self-governing nation. Because we are strong and resolute, Iraq
will never go back to the camp of tyranny and terror. (Applause.) And
America will never go back to the false comforts of the world before
9/11. Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They
are invited by the perception of weakness. (Applause.) And this nation
has made a decision: We will engage the enemy, facing him with our military
in Afghanistan and Iraq today, so we do not have to face him with armies
of firefighters, police, and medical personnel on the streets of our
own cities.
Our nation is extremely fortunate during these times
of testing to have the dedicated service of our men and women in uniform.
(Applause.) The recent misconduct of a few does not diminish the honor
and the decency that our servicemen and women have shown in Iraq. (Applause.)
They have seen hard duty, long deployments, and fierce
fighting. They've endured the loss of friends and comrades. And they
are unwavering in their mission. They are proving every day that when
we send them to defend this nation and our interests, we are sending
the very best of the United States of America. (Applause.)
Our work in Afghanistan and Iraq is part of a forward
strategy of freedom that we are pursuing throughout the greater Middle
East. We know from experience that the institutions of self-government
turn the energies of human beings away from violence, to the peaceful
work of building better lives. Democracies do not breed the anger and
radicalism that drag down whole societies or export violence. Terrorists
do not find fertile recruiting grounds or welcome bases of operations
in societies where young people have the right to guide their own destinies
and to choose their own leaders. By helping nations to build the institutions
of freedom, and turning the energies of men and women away from violence,
we not only make those countries more peaceful, we add to the security
of our own country. (Applause.)
Just as democratic reform is the key to the future
that the people of the Middle East deserve, it is essential to the peaceful
resolution of the long-standing conflict in the Holy Land. President
Bush has expressed his unwavering commitment to the security of Israel
as a vibrant Jewish state. (Applause.)
And in the Rose Garden almost two years ago, he laid
out a clear vision for the road to peace. Our vision is for a viable,
independent Palestinian state, living side-by-side at peace with Israel.
Yet we recognize that peace will not be achieved by Palestinian rulers
who intimidate opposition, tolerate and profit from corruption and maintain
ties to and encourage terrorist groups. The best hope for a lasting
peace depends on true democracy. And a true Palestinian democracy requires
leaders who understand that terror has, in fact, been the worst enemy
of the Palestinian people, and who are prepared to remove it from their
midst. (Applause.)
Americans and Israelis have shared the pain of terrorist
attack, and we are joined in our refusal to tolerate a future based
on fear and terror. As the President has said, Israel must redouble
its efforts by alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people and
avoiding actions that undermine the long-term viability of a two-state
solution. A month ago today, President Bush told Prime Minister Sharon that
he welcomed his courageous decision to withdraw Israeli forces and remove
all settlements from Gaza, as well as certain settlements from the West
Bank. The President called on Palestinians, and their Arab neighbors,
to match that boldness, and that courage.
We believe that the removal of Saddam Hussein and the
rise of a free Iraq will, in time, help create the conditions in which
a lasting peace between Israelis and their Palestinian neighbors is
more likely. (Applause.)
As the President has said, "the establishment
of a free Iraq at the heart of the Middle East will be a watershed event
in the global democratic revolution." And progress toward democracy
for the Palestinian people will be a crucial step toward peace.
President Bush will continue working with Israelis
and Palestinians to make further progress on the road
map. We will go about this work with confidence but without illusion.
We will continue working closely with Prime Minister Sharon to confront
terrorism in all its forms. And we will remain steadfast in our support
of Israel's right to defend herself. (Applause.)
President Bush is also taking new steps to confront
the resurgence of an old evil. Nearly six decades after the end of the Holocaust, anti-Semitism is on the
rise. Our administration led the effort to convene a conference on anti-Semitism
in Berlin this spring. More than 50 nations sent representatives to
the meeting, which included an American delegation led by former Mayor
Ed Koch. America will continue working to eliminate anti-Semitism wherever
it is found, from the Middle East, to Europe, to our own streets. (Applause.)
On national security, and on so many other issues --
from economic growth to improving our schools to better health care
and prescription drug coverage for our seniors -- President Bush has
led the way in making progress for the American people. He has a hopeful,
optimistic vision for the future of this nation.
Abroad, we will use America's great power to serve
great purposes -- to turn back the forces of terror, and to spread hope
and freedom throughout the world. Here at home, we will continue building
prosperity that reaches every corner of the land, so that every child
who grows up in the United States will have a chance to learn, and to
succeed, and to rise in the world.
These past three years, as our country experienced
war and national emergency, I have watched our Commander-in-Chief make
the decisions and set the strategy. I have seen a man who is calm and
deliberate; comfortable with responsibility; consistent in his objectives,
and resolute in his actions. These times have tested the character of
our nation, and they have tested the character of our nation's leader.
(Applause.) When he makes a commitment, there is no doubt he will follow
through. As a result, America's friends know they can trust -- and America's
enemies know they must fear -- the decisive leadership of President
George W. Bush. (Applause.)
Once again, I want thank you for the chance to be here
today. By upholding your proud Jewish traditions, and reaching out to
your neighbors in the South Florida community, you're helping to make
America a stronger, better country. I'm grateful for your warm welcome
and your support, and I wish you all the best in the years to come.
Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Sources: Republican
Jewish Coalition |