President George W. Bush is due to make an address to a Joint Sitting of the United States Congress shortly. In the speech he will say that "freedom and fear are at war", and will call on assistance from foreign governments, intelligence services, police forces and banking systems around the world.
Bush's press secretary has released the following statement containing details of the address:
President Bush will address a joint session of Congress and the American people tonight, saying:
"We are a country awakened to danger and called to defend
freedom."
His speech addresses many questions Americans are asking, including who
attacked
our country, why they hate us, and how we will fight and win the war on
terrorism.
"We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy,
every
tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial
influence and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and defeat
of
the global terror network," he will pledge.
President Bush will make clear that our fight is with terrorist extremists,
not
with those in America and throughout the world who practice the Muslim
faith, a
faith whose teachings are "good and peaceful." "The enemy of American is
not
our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a
radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them."
President Bush will call on our military to "be ready," the American people to be "calm and resolute," and governments around the world to choose: "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
The President will discuss strengthening domestic preparedness and homeland
security. He will thank members of Congress for "what you have already done, and for what we will do together." He will ask Congress to work with him to improve air safety, give law enforcement additional tools and strengthen
America's economy.
The President will thank the world for its sympathy and support, and ask
for the
help of "police forces, intelligence services and banking systems around
the
world."
"Freedom and fear are at war," the President will declare. He will
conclude
with his confidence that so long as America is determined and strong, this
will
not be an age of terror, but an age of liberty.
