Bush in Vegas: Freedom, Tyranny and Elvis

By Mark Silva

In Las Vegas today, President Bush signed a 15-day extension of the federal law authorizing the administration’s surveillance of suspected terrorists – the one which was set to expire on Friday and which he urged Congress to renew during his State of the Union address the other night.

Taking his SOTU themes on the road this week, the president today reiterated his views about the challenge of “the ideological struggle’’ of our time – liberty versus tyranny. Surveillance of suspected terrorists is only one of the weapons employed in that struggle, the president said. The military, he said, must also stay “on the hunt.’’

“We got some good people working it,’ ’Bush said in Las Vegas. “I repeat to you, I know there's some good folks who think this is just simply a law enforcement matter. It is not. This is an effort that requires all assets of the United States, and requires coalitions working together. ‘’

The president replayed the themes which have run through much of his rhetoric, and much of the message which Vice President Dick Cheney also has delivered in speeches throughout the world.

And darned if the leader of the free world didn’t find a way in this Vegas stop to work in another reference to his remarkable relationship with the former prime minister of Japan, Koizumi, the indefatigable Elvis fan, and that tour the two leaders made of Graceland.

“The world in which we live is a dangerous world, but a world full of great opportunity,’’ Bush said. “We're involved in an ideological struggle -- the likes of which we have seen before in our history. It's an ideological struggle between those of us who love freedom and human rights and human dignity, and those who want to impose their dark vision on how people should live their lives….

“We're facing this ideological struggle of people who use asymmetrical warfare,’’ he said. “What distinguishes this ideological struggle from previous ideological struggles -- those with -- against fascism or communism -- is that in this war, individuals use weapons to kill innocent people -- car bombs and suicide vests. And they do so to frighten the West. They do so to create chaos and confusion….

“They do so with the aim of creating vacuums into which their hateful ideology can flow. And that's why you see the September 11th attacks, in London, in Madrid, in Jordan -- attacks around the world. Some will say these are just isolated moments of -- where all we need is a good, strong law enforcement response. I think they're all part of an ideological struggle.

“Do we understand the consequences of success and failure?’’ he asked. “And will the United States be bold and stay in the lead? And my answer is, we have been, we will continue to be, and we must be engaged in making sure we lay the foundation of peace for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

“We will prevail,’’ he said. “We will prevail in this ideological struggle because liberty is powerful. Liberty is hopeful. The enemy we face can only convince people to join their cause is when they find hopelessness.

“And so our strategy is threefold: one, protect the homeland; two, stay on the offense against these folks; and three, provide an alternative -- a hopeful alternative to despair and doubt and hopelessness.

“The first -- our most important job in government -- whether it be the federal government, state government, or local government -- is to protect you,’’ he said. “And remember the lessons of September the 11th: that oceans cannot protect us, that we face cold-blooded killers who, in our case, resorted to mass murder to send a message.

“One such tool in this different kind of war is to fully understand the intentions, the motives, the plans of people who use suicide and bombs to kill the innocent,’’ he said. “If these terrorists and extremists are making phone calls into our country, we need to know why they're calling, what they're thinking, and what they're planning.

“In order to protect the American people, our professionals need to have the tools necessary to do their job you expect them to do. And one such tool is a surveillance program that guarantees the rights of our citizens, but doesn't extend those same guarantees to those who would do us harm.

“I will sign today, here in Las Vegas, an extension, 15-day extension to the Protect America Act,’’ he said. “This will give people and Congress time to pass a good piece of legislation that makes sure that our professionals have the tools necessary to do their job, and provides liability protection to carriers who it is assumed helped us in protecting the American people. This Protect America Act and its strengthening is essential to the security of the United States of America. I will sign the extension, but I expect members from both political parties to get this work done so our professionals can protect the American people.

“The second part of our strategy is to stay on the offense against these folks -- I mean every day stay on the offense; an unrelenting effort to find them and bring them to justice,’’ he said. “It's hard to plot, plan and attack America if you're running and hiding. It's hard to recruit if you're cutting off money. It is hard to spread your poison if other reasonable people join the cause. And so we spend a lot of time doing everything we can to keep the pressure on these folks.

“And we got some good people working it,’’ he said. “I repeat to you, I know there's some good folks who think this is just simply a law enforcement matter. It is not. This is an effort that requires all assets of the United States, and requires coalitions working together.

“ We need our military on the hunt,’’ he said. “We need to be working with allies to keep the pressure on them, and that's exactly what we're doing. America must not relent. If our most important job is to protect the American people, we have got to stay on the offense, and defeat the enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. ‘’

“The third part of our strategy is to spread liberty. I love to tell folks that one of the most unique relationships I had as your President was with the Prime Minister of Japan, Prime Minister Koizumi. He's no longer the Prime Minister, but for a good period of time during my presidency, he was.

“You might remember, he's the fellow that Laura and I took to Elvis' place in Memphis. He loved Elvis, and he wanted to go to Elvis' place. And it was a -- we had a -- it was a remarkable experience….

“Sixty years later, the son of a Navy fighter pilot was sitting at the table with the Prime Minister of the former enemy, strategizing on how to win this ideological war,’’ he said. “I find it ironic. The summary I've come away with is that liberty is transformative. People want to be free and, if given the chance, will be free, do the hard work necessary to be free. And liberty has got the capacity to transform an enemy to an ally.’’