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Bush strike first { June 1 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1037741http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=1037741
Bush Warns U.S. Cadets of Unprecedented Threats
Last Updated: June 01, 2002 12:44 PM ET
By Adam Entous
WEST POINT, N.Y. (Reuters) - President Bush rallied the nation's future military leaders to the war on terrorism on Saturday, telling West Point cadets the best U.S. defense against the unprecedented threat of nuclear or chemical attacks is a good offense.
"The dangers have not passed ... because we know the terrorists have more money and more men and more plans," Bush told the first class to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Previewing the daunting challenges ahead, Bush said the cadets would be asked to hunt down terrorists hiding around the world, and prevent America's enemies from acquiring nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
"Our enemies have declared this very intention and have been caught seeking these terrible weapons," Bush told the graduates, who wore "dress gray" cutaway coats with gleaming brass buttons. Ceremonial swords dangled at their sides.
Without mentioning Iraq by name, Bush declared: "We cannot put our faith in the words of tyrants who solemnly sign nonproliferation treaties and then systematically break them."
"If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long. We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans and confront the worst threats before they emerge."
Bush has denounced Iraq as part of an "axis of evil" threatening to spread weapons of mass destruction, suggesting it could be the next U.S. target in the war against terrorism.
In the face of concerns among European allies that an attack against Baghdad would be rash and destabilizing, Bush said last week he had "no war plans on my desk."
But in his address at West Point, Bush vowed to hold his ground.
"In the world we have entered the only path to safety is the path of action and this nation will act," he said. He added that all Americans must be "ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives."
Bush brushed aside critics who accuse him of acting unilaterally.
"Some may worry that it is somehow undiplomatic or impolite to speak the language of right and wrong. I disagree," he added. "By confronting evil and lawless regimes, we do not create a problem, we reveal a problem. And we will lead the world in opposing it."
THREAT WITHOUT PRECEDENT
Bush said the Sept. 11 attacks and the anti-terror campaign that started in Afghanistan have rapidly redefined military strategy and tactics.
"In defending the peace, we face a threat with no precedent," said Bush, whose administration has come under fire for its handling of intelligence about terrorist threats before Sept. 11.
"Enemies in the past needed great armies and great industrial capabilities to endanger the American people and our nation," Bush said.
By contrast, he added, "the attacks of Sept. 11 required a few hundred thousand dollars in the hands of a few dozen evil and diluted men. All of the chaos and suffering they caused came at much less than the cost of a single tank."
Underscoring these new uncertainties, Bush warned that "this war will take many turns we cannot predict." But he said "this government and the American people are on watch."
PRAISE FOR CADETS
Hailing West Point on its bicentennial, Bush praised this year's graduating class of 958 cadets for their willingness to serve and sacrifice for the nation.
Comparing them to the soldiers that defeated Germany and Japan in the Second World War, Bush told the academy's 2002 graduates that "history has also issued its call to your generation."
"We will defend the peace against threats from terrorists and tyrants. We will preserve the peace by building good relations among the great powers. And will we will extend the peace by encouraging free and open societies on every continent."
"Building this just peace is American's opportunity and America's duty. From this day forward, it is your challenge as well, and we will meet this challenge together," Bush said.
At the end of the ceremony near the banks of the Hudson River, the newly minted second lieutenants tossed their hats high in the air to celebrate their graduation.
Bush will deliver his second commencement address later this month at Ohio State University, where he will emphasize the "value of service to our nation, its communities, and the world," the White House said.
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