President Bush Delivers Commencement Address at United State

May 23, 2007,11:41 A.M. EDT,THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, all. Admiral Allen, thank you for that kind introduction. Admiral Burhoe, congratulations on your promotion¹. Academy staff and faculty², Congressman³ Chris Shays, state and local officials, distinguished⁴ guests, proud families and, most importantly, members of the Class of 2007: thanks for having me., It's a privilege to stand with the future leaders of the United States Coast Guard. Before you receive your degrees today, I want to make sure that you have learned your "indoc." What is the Coast Guard?,CADETS: Mr. President, the Coast Guard is the hard nucleus⁵ about which the Navy forms in times of war, sir! (Applause.),THE PRESIDENT: I probably shouldn't relay that to the Secretary of the Navy. (Laughter.),I see a few "RCF Warriors⁶" out there. Some of you earned demerits for failing to correct your storage [sic], others got caught crawling under the fence on your way to Connecticut College. (Laughter.) However you got bagged, help has arrived. (Laughter.) In keeping with longstanding tradition, I hereby absolve⁷ all cadets who are on restriction⁸ for minor⁹ conduct offenses¹¹. (Applause.) I'll leave it to Admiral Burhoe to define exactly what "minor" means. (Laughter.),More than 6,000 young Americans applied¹² to join the Coast Guard Academy Class of 2007, and today just 228 will walk across this stage to receive your diploma and commission. You're a select few, and each of you worked really hard to get to this moment: survived R-Day, Swab Summer, and Friday morning drill practice with a kind and gentle soul, Chief Dillmann. (Laughter.) You learned to brace¹³ up, do orderlies, square meals, and eat "hamsters" with your "eyes in the boat." You arrived on this campus as "swabs" -- and today you will leave as proud officers of the United States Coast Guard. (Applause.) Your teachers are proud, your parents are thrilled, and your Commander-in-Chief is grateful for your devotion to duty. Congratulations to you all. (Applause.),You didn't make it to this day on your own. Many of you had the help of a special faculty member who mentored¹⁴ -- mentored you along the way. Others made it only through as a result of the intervention¹⁵ of one man: Hopley Yeaton -- he's the patron saint of the Square Root Club. For the moms and dads, the Square Root Club is an association of students whose GPA is so low that when you take its square root, it grows larger. (Laughter.) Unfortunately, they didn't have that club where I went to college -- (laughter) -- perhaps you'll make me an honorary member. (Laughter.),Whether you're graduating today at the top of your class, or by the skin of your teeth, your presence on this field is a tremendous accomplishment¹⁶. And it would not have been possible without the support of the families who believed in you and encouraged you. So I ask all the parents and loved ones here today to stand and be recognized by the class of 2007. (Applause.), The degree you've earned will command respect wherever you go, and you will carry the lessons you learned here for the rest of your lives. This Academy has tested your minds, your bodies, and your character, and having passed these trials, you now embark¹⁷ on a voyage as officers in the oldest continuous Maritime¹⁸ service.,The history of the Coast Guard dates back more than two centuries, to the Revenue Cutter Service, established under the presidency¹⁹ of George Washington -- or as I call him, the first George W. (Laughter and applause.) Since its inception²⁰, the Coast Guard has conducted search and rescue missions, enforced our maritime laws, protected our marine²¹ environment, come to the aid of stranded²² boaters, and helped staunch the flow of illegal drugs and illegal migrants to our shores. And in this new century, the Coast Guard continues to carry out these vital missions.,Americans rely on the Coast Guard in times of disaster. When Hurricane Katrina hit our nation's Gulf²³ Coast, the men and women of the Coast Guard swung into action, hanging from helicopters, pulling people off rooftops and out of trees, and rescuing more than 33,000 people. (Applause.) When storms and floods and tragedy strike, Americans know that they can count on the United States Coast Guard. (Applause.),Americans relied on the Coast Guard on September the 11th, 2001. After terrorists struck the Twin Towers, the Coast Guard station on Staten Island put out a call for "all available boats," and organized a massive flotilla of military and civilian²⁴ craft that evacuated²⁵ hundreds of thousands of people from lower Manhattan. It was the largest waterborne evacuation in our nation's history. And in the days that followed, the men and women of the Coast Guard stayed on the job, assisting operations at Ground Zero, sending chaplains to comfort the bereaved²⁶, and coordinating²⁷ a round-the-clock defense²⁸ of New York Harbor and other vital ports. In a time of crisis, the Coast Guard did its job, and did it well. (Applause.),On September the 11th, the home front you protect became a battlefront in a new and unprecedented²⁹ war. That day, our nation changed forever, and so did the mission of the United States Coast Guard. This service assumed new and essential responsibilities: to defend our nation against terrorist infiltration³⁰, and to help stop new attacks before they kill our people.,As part of Operation Noble Eagle, the men and women of the Coast Guard are protecting more than 360 ports and more than 95,000 miles of coastline. Overseas, the Coast Guard is conducting maritime intercept³¹ operations in the Persian Gulf, patrolling the waters off Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The men and women of the Coast Guard are serving with courage, and the American people are grateful to live behind your Shield of Freedom., Soon you'll join your fellow Coasties in carrying out these and other missions. And this Academy has prepared you well for the new challenges you will face in this war on terror. During your time here, you've taken courses in terrorist tactics and counterterrorism strategies; you've studied radiation detection, remote sensing, and the handling of hazardous³² materials; you participated in military exercises that have prepared you for the threats of this new century.,You'll need all this training to help keep your fellow citizens safe. In this war, we face a brutal³³ enemy that has already killed thousands in our midst, and is determined³⁴ to bring even greater destruction to our shores. We're blessed that there has not been another terrorist attack on our homeland in the past five-and-a-half years. This is not for lack of effort on the part of the enemy. Since 9/11, al Qaeda and its allies have succeeded in carrying out horrific attacks across the world; al Qaeda leaders have repeatedly made clear they intend to strike our country again.,In January of last year, Osama bin³⁵ Laden³⁶ warned the American people: "Operations are under preparation and you will see them on your own ground once they are finished." Seven months later, British authorities broke up the most ambitious known al Qaeda threat to the homeland since the 9/11 attacks: a plot to blow up passenger airplanes flying to America. Our intelligence community believes that this plot was just two or three weeks away from execution. If it had been carried out, it could have rivaled 9/11 in death and destruction.,This was not the first al Qaeda plot that has been foiled since 9/11. In December 2001 we captured an al Qaeda operative named Ali Salih al-Mari. Our intelligence community believes that Ali Salih was training in poisons at an al Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, and had been sent to the United States before September the 11th to serve as a sleeper³⁷ agent ready for follow-on attacks. He was ordered to our country by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, who is now in U.S. custody³⁸. Our intelligence community believes that KSM brought Ali Salih to meet Osama bin Laden, where he pledged his loyalty³⁹ to the al Qaeda leader and offered himself up as a martyr⁴⁰. Among the potential targets our intelligence community believes this al Qaeda operative discussed with KSM were water reservoirs, the New York Stock Exchange, and United States military academies such as this one., We also broke up two other post-9/11 aviation plots. The first, in 2002, was a plot by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad to repeat the destruction of 9/11 by sending operatives to hijack⁴¹ an airplane and fly into the tallest building on the West Coast. During a hearing at Guantanamo Bay just two months ago, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad stated that the intended target was the Library Tower in Los Angeles. And in 2003, we uncovered and stopped a plot led by another suspected senior al Qaeda operative named Abu Bakr al-Azdi. Our intelligence community believes this plot was to be another East Coast aviation attack, including multiple airplanes that had been hijacked⁴² and then crashing into targets in the United States.,There is a reason that these and other plots have thus far not succeeded: Since September the 11th, we have taken bold action at home and abroad to keep our people safe.,To help stop new attacks on our country, we have undertaken the most sweeping⁴³ reorganization of the federal government since the start of the Cold War. We created the new Department of Homeland Security, merging⁴⁴ 22 different government organizations, including the Coast Guard, into a single Department with a clear mission: to protect America from future attacks.,To stop new attacks on our country, we've strengthened our nation's intelligence community. We created the position of the Director of National Intelligence to ensure our intelligence agencies operate as a single, unified⁴⁵ enterprise. We created the National Counter Terrorism Center, where the FBI, the CIA, and other agencies work side by side to track terrorist threats across the world. We directed the National Security Agency to monitor international terrorist communications. We established a program run by the CIA to detain and question key terrorist leaders and operatives. These measures are vital. These measures are working. And these measures have helped prevent an attack on our homeland. (Applause.),To help stop new attacks on our country, we passed the Patriot⁴⁶ Act, breaking down the walls that had prevented federal law enforcement and intelligence communities from sharing information about potential terrorist activities. We've transformed the FBI into an agency whose primary focus is stopping terrorist attacks. We've expanded the number of FBI Joint⁴⁷ Terrorism Task Forces from 35 before 9/11 to more than a hundred today. And we saw their effectiveness recently when one of these teams helped disrupt a plot by a group of al Qaeda-inspired extremists to kill American soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey⁴⁸., To help stop new attacks on our country, we launched the BioWatch program, placing state-of-the-art equipment in major U.S. cities to detect biological agents. To help prevent terrorists from bringing nuclear or radiological weapons into our county, we're placing radiation detectors⁴⁹ in all major U.S. ports. We placed advanced screening equipment and U.S. Homeland Security personnel at foreign ports, so we can pre-screen cargo⁵⁰ headed for America. We're determined to stop the world's most dangerous men from striking America with the world's most dangerous weapons. And the Coast Guard is on the front line of this battle. (Applause.),To help stop new attacks on our country, we've strengthened international cooperation in the fight against terror. A coalition⁵¹ of more than 90 nations -- nearly one-half of the world -- is working together to dry up terrorist financing and bring terrorist leaders to justice. We launched the Proliferation Security Initiative, a vast coalition of nations that are working to stop shipments of weapons of mass destruction on land, at sea, and in the air. With our allies, we have uncovered and shut down the A.Q. Khan network, which had supplied nuclear-related equipment and plans to terrorist states, including Iran and North Korea. With Great Britain, we convinced the leader of Libya to abandon his country's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. The key components⁵² of Libya's nuclear program are now locked up in a storage facility right here in the United States. And today the world is safer because Libya is out of the nuclear weapons business. (Applause.),All these steps are making our country safer, but we're not yet safe. To strike our country, the terrorists only have to be right once; to protect our country, we have to be right 100 percent of the time. That means the best way to protect our people is to take the fight to the enemy. So after 9/11, I vowed⁵³ to America that we would go on the offense¹⁰ against the terrorists, fighting them across the world so we do not have to face them here at home. And since 9/11, that is precisely⁵⁴ what that United States of America has done. (Applause.), In Afghanistan, we removed a regime that gave sanctuary⁵⁵ and support to al Qaeda as they planned the 9/11 attacks. Today, because we acted, the terrorist camps in Afghanistan have been shut down, 25 million people have been liberated⁵⁶, and the Afghan people have an elected government that is fighting terrorists, instead of harboring them. (Applause.),The Taliban and al Qaeda are seeking to roll back Afghanistan's democratic progress -- but forces from 40 nations, including every member of NATO, are helping⁵⁷ the Afghan people defend their democratic gains. Earlier this month, Afghan, American, and NATO forces tracked down and killed a top Taliban commander in Afghanistan. His death has sent a clear message to all who would challenge Afghanistan's young democracy: We drove al Qaeda and the Taliban out of power, and they're not going to be allowed to return to power. (Applause.),In Iraq, we removed a cruel dictator who harbored terrorists, paid the families of Palestinian suicide bombers⁵⁸, invaded his neighbors, defied the United Nations Security Council, pursued and used weapons of mass destruction. Iraq, the United States and the world are better off without Saddam Hussein in power. (Applause.) And today the Iraqi people are building a young democracy on the rubble⁵⁹ of Saddam Hussein's tyranny. In December 2005, nearly 12 million Iraqis demonstrated their desire to be free, going to the polls and choosing a new government under the most progressive, democratic constitution in the Arab world.,In 2006, a thinking enemy responded to this progress and struck back with brutality⁶⁰. They staged sensational⁶¹ attacks that led to a tragic⁶² escalation⁶³ of sectarian rage and reprisal⁶⁴. If the sectarian violence continued to spiral out of control, the Iraqi government would have been in danger of collapse⁶⁵. The ensuing chaos⁶⁶ would embolden⁶⁷ Iran, which is fueling the violence, and al Qaeda, a key driver of Iraq's sectarian conflict. The chaos could eventually spread across the Middle East, and generations of Americans would be in even greater danger.,So I had a choice to make: withdraw our troops, or send reinforcements to help the Iraqis quell⁶⁸ the sectarian violence. I decided⁶⁹ to send more troops with a new mission: to help the Iraqi government secure their population and get control of Baghdad. As we carry out the new strategy, the Iraqi government has a lot of work to do. They must meet its responsibility to the Iraqi people and achieve benchmarks it has set, including adoption⁷⁰ of a national oil law, preparations for provincial⁷¹ elections, progress on a new de-Baathification policy, and a review of the Iraqi constitution. The Iraqi people must see that their government is taking action to bring their country together and give all of Iraq's a stake in a peaceful future., Now, in 2007, we are at a pivotal moment in this battle. There are many destructive forces in Iraq trying to stop this strategy from succeeding -- the most destructive is al Qaeda. Al Qaeda knows that a democratic Iraq is a threat to their ambitions to impose their hateful ideology⁷² across the Middle East. And al Qaeda knows that our presence in Iraq is a direct threat to their existence in Iraq. Our security depends on helping the Iraqis succeed and defeating Iraq -- al Qaeda in Iraq. (Applause.)