In his 2002 State of the Union Address, George W. Bush proclaimed that the attacks of September 11 signaled a new, dangerous world that demanded American interventions. Bush identified an \u201cAxis of Evil\u201d and provided a justification for a broad \u201cwar on terror.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u2026 As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilized world faces unprecedented dangers. \u2026<\/p>\n We last met in an hour of shock and suffering. In four short months, our nation has comforted the victims, begun to rebuild New York and the Pentagon, rallied a great coalition, captured, arrested, and rid the world of thousands of terrorists, destroyed Afghanistan\u2019s terrorist training camps, saved a people from starvation, and freed a country from brutal oppression.<\/p>\n The American flag flies again over our embassy in Kabul. Terrorists who once occupied Afghanistan now occupy cells at Guantanamo Bay. And terrorist leaders who urged followers to sacrifice their lives are running for their own.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n For many Americans, these four months have brought sorrow, and pain that will never completely go away. Every day a retired firefighter returns to Ground Zero, to feel closer to his two sons who died there. At a memorial in New York, a little boy left his football with a note for his lost father: \u201cDear Daddy, please take this to heaven. I don\u2019t want to play football until I can play with you again some day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Our cause is just, and it continues. \u2026<\/p>\n What we have found in Afghanistan confirms that, far from ending there, our war against terror is only beginning. \u2026<\/p>\n Our nation will continue to be steadfast and patient and persistent in the pursuit of two great objectives. First, we will shut down terrorist camps, disrupt terrorist plans, and bring terrorists to justice. And, second, we must prevent the terrorists and regimes who seek chemical, biological or nuclear weapons from threatening the United States and the world.<\/p>\n Our military has put the terror training camps of Afghanistan out of business, yet camps still exist in at least a dozen countries. \u2026 While the most visible military action is in Afghanistan, America is acting elsewhere. \u2026 My hope is that all nations will heed our call, and eliminate the terrorist parasites who threaten their countries and our own. \u2026 But some governments will be timid in the face of terror. And make no mistake about it: If they do not act, America will.<\/p>\n Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th. But we know their true nature. North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens.<\/p>\n Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people\u2019s hope for freedom.<\/p>\n Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror. The Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax, and nerve gas, and nuclear weapons for over a decade. This is a regime that has already used poison gas to murder thousands of its own citizens\u2014leaving the bodies of mothers huddled over their dead children. This is a regime that agreed to international inspections\u2014then kicked out the inspectors. This is a regime that has something to hide from the civilized world.<\/p>\n States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.<\/p>\n We will work closely with our coalition to deny terrorists and their state sponsors the materials, technology, and expertise to make and deliver weapons of mass destruction. \u2026 And all nations should know: America will do what is necessary to ensure our nation\u2019s security.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll be deliberate, yet time is not on our side. I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world\u2019s most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world\u2019s most destructive weapons.<\/p>\n Our war on terror is well begun, but it is only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch\u2014yet it must be and it will be waged on our watch.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t stop short. If we stop now\u2014leaving terror camps intact and terror states unchecked\u2014our sense of security would be false and temporary. History has called America and our allies to action, and it is both our responsibility and our privilege to fight freedom\u2019s fight.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n None of us would ever wish the evil that was done on September the 11th. Yet after America was attacked, it was as if our entire country looked into a mirror and saw our better selves. We were reminded that we are citizens, with obligations to each other, to our country, and to history. We began to think less of the goods we can accumulate, and more about the good we can do.<\/p>\n For too long our culture has said, \u201cIf it feels good, do it.\u201d Now America is embracing a new ethic and a new creed: \u201cLet\u2019s roll.\u201d In the sacrifice of soldiers, the fierce brotherhood of firefighters, and the bravery and generosity of ordinary citizens, we have glimpsed what a new culture of responsibility could look like. We want to be a nation that serves goals larger than self. We\u2019ve been offered a unique opportunity, and we must not let this moment pass.<\/p>\n \u2026<\/p>\n Steadfast in our purpose, we now press on. We have known freedom\u2019s price. We have shown freedom\u2019s power. And in this great conflict, my fellow Americans, we will see freedom\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n Thank you all. May God bless.<\/p>\n