2003 Press Releases
Letter from Ambassador Jacobson on the Second Anniversary of September 11, 2001
Sept. 12, 2003
The violence that struck the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93 two years ago was an attack on America's freedom, but it also delivered a powerful blow to the world's hopes for peace.
Innocent citizens of 87 countries were killed in the attacks of September 11 -- more than 3,000 men and women of every continent, culture, creed, race and religion. Citizens of countries from Antigua to Zimbabwe, including predominantly Muslim countries from Bangladesh to Yemen, died two years ago.
Mothers were snatched from their daughters, and fathers from their sons. Couples were ripped apart, friends forever separated. New York lost part of its famous skyline, but not its great spirit.
As traffic and horrific as the attacks were to my fellow citizens, they changed more than America - they changed the world. The attacks' real impact lies beyond the pain suffered by survivors' and victims' families; beyond even the threat to the security to the security of the United States.
The attacks on September 11 made us aware that terror threatens us all.
Earlier this week, President Bush reminded all of us of the stakes in fighting terrorism. "The triumph of democracy and tolerance in Iraq, in Afghanistan and beyond would be a grave setback for international terrorism. The terrorists thrive on the support of tyrants and the resentments of oppressed peoples. When tyrants fall, and resentment gives way to hope, men and women in every culture reject the ideologies of terror, and turn to the pursuits of peace. Everywhere that freedom takes hold, terror will retreat."
Since we are all potential victims of the ideology of hatred, and because terrorists believe all lives are expendable in their drive for chaos, my nation and yours must continue to condemn the murder of innocents and reject the hatred that feeds this violence. As Secretary Powell noted last week "In recent months, terrorist attacks have made far too many headlines, in far too many places. In a resort in Bali. In a bus full of children. In Jerusalem. In a Bombay marketplace. At the United Nations Headquarters in Baghdad. In front of a Sacred Mosque in Najaf, Iraq."
President Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell have built a worldwide coalition for the war against terrorism.
President Bush has met with leaders from more than 90 countries to build support for and coordinate the war on terrorism. More than 170 nations have contributed to this effort by arresting terrorists, freezing their assets, and providing military forces. Turkmenistan has played an important role in facilitating the transit of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
Worldwide efforts have lead to the capture of 65 percent of senior Al Qaida leaders, operational managers, and key facilitators. Counterterrorism activities have splintered the group's leadership, so its ability to plan and carry out attacks has been compromised.
Many Middle East and North African nations have arrested Al Qaida members. European nations have contributed forces to Operation Enduring Freedom, disrupted Al Qaida cells and are vigorously pursuing other terrorist leads. Southeast Asian countries have arrested terrorist leaders.
Al Qaida is not destroyed, but it is wounded and we are unrelenting.
With the support of many nations, we have also pursued the war on terror in Iraq. America and the Coalition removed a regime that built and used weapons of mass destruction, sponsored terror, and persecuted its people. Our military coalition destroyed the Iraqi regime, while taking extraordinary measures to spare innocent life.
Catastrophic weapons will no longer be in the hands of a ruthless dictator. Middle Eastern countries no longer fear subversion and attack by Saddam Hussein's regime. Iraq will no longer be a source of funding for suicide bombers in the Middle East. The torture chambers in Iraq are closed, the prison cells for children are empty. We see new mass demonstrations, rather than new mass graves.
Our work in Iraq goes on, and our efforts to internationalize the renewal that country continue in the face of difficulty. The remnants of Saddam's regime are dangerous, and terrorists are gathering in Iraq to undermine reconstruction. Al Qaida and the other global terror networks recognize that a democratic Iraq in the heart of the Middle East would be a grave defeat for their ideology of terror.
Unfortunately, the more progress we make in Iraq, the more desperate the terrorists will become. But we will prevail. The world has learned some important lessons. In the words of Secretary Powell, "[T]he President set us on the task not just to get the killers of September 11, but to instead lead a global campaign against all terrorism, against all terrorists. He did this because he understood that terrorism is not just America's problem; it is everyone's problem, it is a problem for the civilized world…"
As President Bush told America nearly two years ago, terrorism will be defeated. But for this to happen, it will take a strong United States and our freedom-loving neighbors around the world.
"Freedom and fear are at war," he told that American Congress. "The advance of human freedom - the great achievement of our time, and the great hope of every time - now depends on us. Our nation - this generation - will list a dark threat of violence from our people and our future. We will rally the world to this cause by our efforts, by our courage. We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail"
Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson
