After September 11, 2001, our tolerance for The Lie is no more. As President Bush said: “You’re either with us, or you?re with the terrorists.”
The war on terror is not a misunderstanding. It is not an opportunity for negotiation or dialogue.
It’s a battle between good and evil, between the Truth of liberty and the Lie of terror.
This war is the moral extension of World War II and the Cold War, and like the Nazis, fascists, and Communists before them, the terrorists are going to lose. History, as always, will judge harshly those who would accommodate evil’s aggression.
And so we fight: humbly, proudly, and together.
The common destiny of the United States and Israel is not an artificial alliance dictated by our leaders.
It is a heartfelt friendship between the citizens of two democracies at war, bound by the solidarity of freedom.
Brothers and sisters of Israel: Be not afraid. The American people stand with you, and so does our president.
George W. Bush is a man of integrity and honesty. He is a man committed to the security of Israel and its destiny among the great nations of the earth.
I’ve served with presidents of both parties, and I assure you, you could not have a better friend than George W. Bush.
He understands the fundamental truth that terrorism and freedom cannot coexist, and he has defined America’s global mission in its terms.
All people who desire peace and freedom are therefore allies of the United States.
And included in that number are the Palestinian people who yearn for peace, who for too long have been used as pawns by their terrorist leadership.
Their plight is real: they have been oppressed and abused by a pernicious enemy. But their enemy is not Israel, nor its people, nor its democratic government.
Their enemy is Yasir Arafat. Their enemy is Hamas, Hizbullah, and the vast network of violent men who threaten this region like so many desert scorpions.
Terrorists are incapable of peace, because they live only to terrorize, to intimidate, and to kill. Democracies, therefore, must only make peace with those men capable of it.
A prerequisite to a lasting peace is the establishment of a genuine Palestinian democracy that serves the Palestinian people.
I sincerely hope Abu Mazen is the man to finally rid his people of the terrorist elements among them. He may be. And though Israel and the United States should adopt a ‘trust but verify’ attitude toward him, peace is worth giving him that chance.
In large part, then, the onus now shifts to the rest of the world, to take the ascension of Abu Mazen to its logical conclusion: Arafat must be isolated.
Nations and organizations – however well intentioned – that acknowledge Yasir Arafat and his network as legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people validate the Lie, and perpetuate terror.
Whether in Brussels, Manhattan, or anywhere in between, legitimizing Arafat undermines the prospects for peace.
Terrorism does not exist in a vacuum. The campaigns of evil visited on innocent men, women, and children around the world rely on state sponsorship.
Governments in Iran, Syria, and elsewhere who continue to offer support and safe harbor to terrorists will be held accountable for their actions, and suffer the consequences.
Terrorism is going to be ended in the Middle East and everywhere else, and so too will regimes that support it.
In the words of President Bush: “We will not waver. Will not tire. We will not falter, and we will not fail.”
A lasting peace in the Middle East requires more than the temporary ascension of Abu Mazen.
