Bush: No 'perfect' security
2005-07-11 19:15
Washington - US President George W Bush vowed on Monday to continue attacking terrorists, saying the "civilised world" stands united to defend its freedom in the face of last week's terrorist attacks in London.
Bush, in a speech at the FBI academy in Quanitco, Virginia, said the bombings of three subway trains and a bus in England's capital were "an attack on the civilised world" and assured Britain that the American people would stand with it.
The president said terrorists believe that they can weaken the world's resolve in the war on terrorism by attacking civilians.
At least 52 people were killed in four separate explosions on London's transport system last week.
"They believe that the world's democracies are weak and that by killing innocent civilians they can break our will," Bush stated.
"They're mistaken. America will not retreat in the face of terrorists and murderers and neither will the free world."
'Take the fight to the enemy'
Bush said the only way to combat terrorists is to attack them.
"These kind of people who blow up subways and buses are not people you can negotiate with or reason with or appease," the president stated.
"In the face of such adversaries, there is only one course of action: We will continue to take the fight to the enemy and we will fight until this enemy is defeated."
Bush said Iraq has become the "central front" in the war on terror and that terrorists fight there "because they know that the survival of their hateful ideology is at stake".
As the US and its allies are "spreading the hope of freedom across the broader Middle East", they will take away hosts and sponsors of terrorism, he added.
"By offering an alternative to the terrorists' dark vision of hatred and fear, we are laying the foundation of peace for our children and our grandchildren," Bush said.
The president detailed the efforts his administration has undertaken to better protect the American people, but he also prepared his citizens for a possible attack in the future.
"We know that there's no such thing as perfect security and that in a free and open society it is impossible to protect against every threat," Bush said. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA