Bush rallies nation to ‘struggle for civilization’

updated 7:22 a.m. ET Sept. 12, 2006

Five years after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, President Bush said Monday night the war against terrorism is “the calling of our generation” and urged Americans to put aside differences and fight to victory despite what he called “a difficult road ahead.”

“America did not ask for this war, and every American wishes it were over,” Bush said. “The war is not over — and it will not be over until either we or the extremists emerge victorious.”

Bush, in a prime-time address from the Oval Office, staunchly defended the war in Iraq even though he acknowledged that Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people.

He said Saddam’s regime, while lacking weapons of mass destruction, was a clear threat that posed “a risk the world could not afford to take.” At least 2,666 U.S. servicemen and women have died in Iraq.

“Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone,” the president said. “They will not leave us alone. They will follow us.”

The address came at the end of a day in which Bush honored the memory of the attacks that rocked his presidency and thrust the United States into a costly and unfinished war against terror.

Visits to three locations
It was a day of mourning, remembrance and resolve. Before his address, Bush visited New York, Shanksville, Pa., and the Pentagon to place wreaths and console relatives of the victims.

“Five years ago, this date — Sept. 11 — was seared into America’s memory,” the president said. “Nineteen men attacked us with a barbarity unequaled in our history.”

Bush said that Osama bin Laden, the reputed mastermind of the attack, and other terrorists are still in hiding. “Our message to them is clear: No matter how long it takes, America will find you and we will bring you to justice.”

Bush said the war on terrorism was nothing less than “a struggle for civilization” and must be fought to the end. He said defeat would surrender the Middle East to radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons.

“We are fighting to maintain the way of life enjoyed by free nations,” the president said. Two months before the November elections, he attempted to spell out in graphic terms the stakes he sees in the unpopular war in Iraq and the broader war on terror.

‘Calling of our generation’
He said Islamic radicals are trying to build an empire “where women are prisoners in their homes, men are beaten for missing prayer meetings and terrorists have a safe haven to plan and launch attacks on America and other civilized nations.”

“The war against this enemy is more than a military conflict,” the president said. “It is the decisive ideological struggle of the 21st century and the calling of our generation.”

Five years ago, the attacks transformed Bush’s presidency and awakened the world to bin Laden and his band of al-Qaida terrorists. While the public has soured on the war in Iraq, which Bush calls the central front in the war on terrorism, the president still gets high marks for his handling of Sept. 11.

Terrorism has been a potent political issue for Republicans, and they hope to capitalize on it in the elections. GOP lawmakers are anxious about holding control of both houses of Congress.

Congress has approved $432 billion for Iraq and the war on terrorism.

“The safety of America depends on the outcome of the battle in the streets of Baghdad,” the president said. He quoted bin Laden as calling Iraq “the Third World War.”

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