Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema
precepts at claremont.org wrote:
> The Claremont Institute--PRECEPTS
> | | September 12, 2001
> Visit <http://www.claremont.org>
> | | No. 298
>
> Claremont Institute Precepts: The President's Next Speech,
> a Draft
> By Thomas B. Silver
>
> In his speech to the American people on Wednesday morning,
> President George W. Bush described Tuesday's attacks on the
> World Trade Center and the Pentagon as "acts of war." But,
> for now, there appears to be no decision about how the
> United States should respond. Although the president is
> given wide latitude to exercise his power, especially in a
> time of national emergency, only Congress has the power to
> declare war. As evidence mounts about who was behind these
> acts, it will be up to the president to educate Americans
> about what fighting this war will require. Herewith, an
> unsolicited "draft" of President Bush's next speech.
>
> My Fellow Americans:
>
> On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, our country was
> deliberately attacked by determined enemies of liberty and
> civilization. These were acts of terror, yes, but they were
> fundamentally acts of war.
>
> That is why tomorrow I will ask Congress to declare war on
> the enemies of the United States.
>
> You may ask who these are, thinking that there is no easy
> answer. And there may be no easy answer -- but there is an
> answer.
>
> We do not now know precisely who is responsible for
> Tuesday's attacks. If we must wait to establish
> guilt "beyond a reasonable doubt," before taking action, it
> is unlikely that we will ever take any action at all.
>
> My fellow Americans, I submit to you that it does not
> matter. Assigning blame is a matter for courts of law.
> Finding and destroying the enemy is a matter for the
> military. When at war, great nations do not seek to arrest
> and try the politicians and generals who make war against
> them. They seek to destroy their armed forces, and their
> ability to continue the war.
>
> Our enemy is the shadowy web of terror groups that has for
> the past generation been attacking American bases,
> embassies, ships and now American cities. Our enemies are
> the governments who harbor those groups, and support them
> with men, money, equipment and encouragement, so that they
> may kill American soldiers and civilians. And -- I am
> saddened to say -- our enemies have agents here at home,
> working, training, planning for the next attack.
>
> When in the field facing a determined enemy, great
> commanders do not concern themselves only with the regiment
> that is currently attacking them. Their maps show all the
> regiments, all the divisions, all the airbases, all the
> supply depots. And those are all slated for destruction, as
> capabilities and prudence permit.
>
> It does not matter if this or that terrorist, harbored by
> this or that country, perpetrated Tuesday's atrocity. If he
> is not responsible for the carnage of today, then he has
> surely escaped retribution for an act committed yesterday.
> And if he did not kill innocents yesterday, he is surely
> planning to kill tomorrow.
>
> In the Second World War, we gave no quarter to German
> divisions simply because they were far from the front, and
> had not yet engaged American troops. We did not ignore a
> Japanese fleet because none of its specific ships had yet
> fired on the American Navy. So too in this war -- in the
> war that began Tuesday -- we will give no quarter to our
> enemy, wherever he exists.
>
> My fellow Americans, this will be a long, hard war. It is
> will tax us all to the utmost. It will deprive many of us
> of our lives, and many more of their loved ones. It will
> make us tired, and sad, and probably -- at least in the
> short term -- a little poorer.
>
> But only in money, and never in spirit.
>
> That is -- never in spirit if we choose not to let this
> war, and these opening shots, break us. We must so choose -
> and it is a choice.
>
> The war I will ask your representatives to declare will
> demand every ounce of strength, courage and resolve that we
> can muster. It will demand that we understand and believe
> in the nobility and justice of our nation, and in the
> rightness of our cause.
>
> In the coming weeks, I will speak to you again about the
> war, and I will have more to say about our cause. But until
> then, I ask you to look in your hearts, and believe -- as I
> know that all of us do believe -- the words of President
> Lincoln: the United States of America is the "last, best
> hope of earth."
>
> I address my final words this evening to our enemies. I
> know you are listening, so listen closely.
>
> More than six decades ago, when civilization faced an even
> greater peril, a great statesman warned his countrymen of
> the dangers to come.
>
> Today, I paraphrase those famous words of Winston
> Churchill, but I speak them to you:
>
> Do not suppose that this is the end. This is only the
> beginning of the reckoning. This is only the first sip, the
> first foretaste of a bitter cup, which will be proffered to
> you year by year, as -- through a supreme recovery of moral
> health and martial vigor -- we Americans arise again, and
> take our stand for freedom, as in the olden time.
>
> Thomas B. Silver is President of the Claremont Institute.
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Copyright (c) 2001 The Claremont Institute
>
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