The United States is grateful that many nations and many international organizations have already responded with sympathy and with support -- nations from Latin America, to Asia, to Afri[r]
Trang 1Bài diễn văn của Thủ Tướng Anh về cái chết của của Đức Cố Giáo Hoàng Gioan Phaolô Đệ Nhị
Ngày hôm nay, thế giới đã mất đi một vị lãnh đạo tôn giáo, người được mến mộ bởi tất cả mọi người trên khắp hành tinh thuộc nhiều tôn giáo khác nhau cũng như vô thần Ngài chính là nguồn cảm hứng, và cũng
là người có đức tin rất sâu đậm, có lòng tự trọng cao và hết sức can đảm.
Trải qua những tháng năm khó khăn và lao khổ, Ngài đã đứng vững để bênh vực cho công
lý xã hội và luôn đứng về phía của những người bị áp bức, bóc lột cho dẫu khi đó Ngài hãy còn là một người thanh niên trẻ tuổi đối mặt với sự chiếm đóng của quân phát xít Đức ở đất nước Ba Lan, hay sau này qua việc thách đố với chế độ Cộng Sản.
Ngài không bao giờ nao núng hay giao động, cũng chẳng bao giờ chùn bước hay ngần ngại để đấu tranh cho những gì mà Ngài nghĩ là đúng và tốt đẹp cho tất cả mọi người Tuy nhiên, mặc cho mọi gian khổ và những lầm lỗi về bản tính tự nhiên của con người, Ngài vẫn không bao giờ mất đi niềm tin vào bản tính cùng đích của con người, là có đủ khả năng để làm nên những điều thiện hảo.
Đối với những ai đã có may mắn được gặp Ngài, cũng như chính tôi và gia đình của tôi hai năm về trước, đều phải nhìn nhận rằng: Ngài đã phát tỏa ra sự ấm cúng, nồng nhiệt và sự tiếp đón rất tử tế, khiến cho cuộc gặp gỡ ấy khó mà có thể quên đi cho được Ngài sẽ được ghi nhớ với sự kính trọng và lòng ngưởng
Và sau đây là phiên bản tiếng Anh để Quý vị tham khảo thêm……
Today, the world has lost a religious leader who was revered across people of all faiths and none He was
an inspiration, a man of extraordinary faith, dignity and courage.
Throughout a hard and often difficult life, he stood for social justice and on the side of the oppressed, whether as a young man facing the Nazi occupation in Poland or later in challenging the communist regime He never wavered, never flinched, in the struggle for what he thought was good and right.
Yet whatever his own hardship and experience of what was wrong in human nature, he never lost faith in the human spirit and its ultimate capacity to do
Trang 2To anyone fortunate enough to meet him, as I was with my family two years ago, he radiated such warmth and kindness that the meeting was unforgettable He will be remembered with profound respect and admiration.
I extend my profound sympathy to the Catholic people of the United Kingdom and beyond and to the people of Poland on the death of a remarkable man, Pope John Paul II.
Members of the Dail and Seanad, after all the long and torn history of our two peoples, standing here
as the first British prime minister ever to address the joint Houses of the Oireachtas, I feel profoundly both the history in this event, and I feel profoundly the enormity of the honour that you are bestowing upon me From the bottom of my heart, go raibh mile maith agaibh.
Ireland, as you may know, is in my blood My mother was born in the flat above her grandmother's hardware shop on the main street of Ballyshannon in Donegal She lived there as a child, started school there and only moved when her father died; her mother remarried and they crossed the water to Glasgow
We spent virtually every childhood summer holiday up to when the troubles really took hold in
Ireland, usually at Rossnowlagh, the Sands House Hotel, I think it was And we would travel in the beautiful countryside of Donegal It was there in the seas off the Irish coast that I learned to swim, there that my father took me to my first pub, a remote little house in the country, for a Guinness, a taste I've never forgotten and which it is always a pleasure to repeat.
Even now, in my constituency of Sedgefield, which at one time had 30 pits or more, all now gone, virtually every community remembers that its roots lie in Irish migration to the mines of Britain.
So like it or not, we, the British and the Irish, are irredeemably linked.
Trang 3We experienced and absorbed the same waves of invasions: Celts, Vikings, Normans all left their distinctive mark on our countries Over a thousand years ago, the monastic traditions formed the basis for both our cultures Sadly, the power games of medieval monarchs and feudal chiefs sowed the seeds
of later trouble.
Yet it has always been simplistic to portray our differences as simply Irish versus English or British There were, after all, many in Britain too who suffered greatly at the hands of powerful absentee landlords, who were persecuted for their religion, or who were for centuries disenfranchised And each generation in Britain has benefited, as ours does, from the contribution of Irishmen and women.
Today the links between our parliaments are continued by the British-Irish Parliamentary Body, and last month 60 of our MPs set up a new all-party "Irish in Britain Parliamentary Group."
Irish parliamentarians have made a major contribution to our shared parliamentary history Let me single out just two:
Daniel O'Connell, who fought against injustice to extend a franchise restricted by religious prejudice;
Charles Stewart Parnell, whose statue stands today in the House of Commons and whose political skills and commitment to social justice made such an impact
in that House
So much shared history, so much shared pain.
And now the shared hope of a new beginning.
The peace process is at a difficult juncture Progress is being made, but slowly There is an impasse over the establishment of the executive; there is an impasse over decommissioning But I have been optimistic the whole way through And I am optimistic now Let us not underestimate how far we have come; and let us agree that we have come too far to go back now.
Politics is replacing violence as the way people do business The Good Friday Agreement,
overwhelmingly endorsed by the people on both sides of the Border, holds out the prospect of a
peaceful long-term future for Northern Ireland, and the whole island of Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Bill provides for the new Assembly and Executive, the North-South Ministerial Council, and the British-Irish Council It incorporates the principle of consent into British
constitutional law and repeals the Government of Ireland Act of 1920 It establishes a Human Rights Commission with the power to support individual cases We will have an Equality Commission to police a new duty on all public bodies in Northern Ireland to promote equality of opportunity We have set up the Patten Commission to review policing We are scaling down the military presence Prisoners are being released.
None of this is easy I get many letters from the victims of violence asking why we are freeing terrorist prisoners It is a tough question but my answer is clear: the agreement would never have come about if
we had not tackled the issue of prisoners That agreement heralds the prospect of an end to violence and a peaceful future for Northern Ireland Our duty is to carry it out That is a duty I feel more strongly than ever, having seen for myself the horror of Omagh This was not the first such atrocity But with all of my being, I will it to be the last I will never forget the meeting I had, with Bill Clinton, with survivors, and with relatives of those who died Their suffering and their courage was an
Trang 4inspiration They will never forget their loved ones Nor must we We owe it to them above all to build
a lasting peace, when we have the best opportunity in a generation to do so.
The Taoiseach's personal contribution has been immense I pay tribute to his tireless dedication I value his friendship I also salute the courage of our predecessors, Deputy Albert Reynolds, Deputy John Bruton and John Major; and I also salute Deputy Dick Spring, whose role in this process goes back a long way.
Like us, you are living up to your side of the bargain too You have voted to end the territorial claim over Northern Ireland, essential to the agreement
It is time now for all the parties to live up to all their commitments Time for North/South bodies to be established to start a new era of co-operation between you and Northern Ireland I hope agreement
on these is now close Time to set up the institutions of the new government Time for the gun and the threat of the gun to be taken out of politics once and for all; for decommissioning to start.
I am not asking anyone to surrender I am asking everyone to declare the victory of peace.
In Belfast or Dublin, people say the same thing: make the agreement work.
It is never far from my mind My sense of urgency and mission comes from the children in Northern Ireland I reflect on those who have been victims of violence, whose lives are scarred and twisted through the random wickedness of a terrorist act, on those who grow up in fear, those whose parents and loved ones have died.
And I reflect on those, who though untouched directly by violence, are nonetheless victims victims of mistrust and misunderstanding who through lack of a political settlement miss the chance of new friendships, new horizons, because of the isolation from others that the sectarian way of life brings.
I reflect on the sheer waste of children taught to hate when I believe passionately children should be taught to think.
Don't believe anyone who says the British people don't care about the peace process People in my country care deeply about it, are willing it to work And in our two countries, it is not just the
politicians who have a role to play.
No one should ignore the injustices of the past, or the lessons of history But too often between us, one person's history has been another person's myth
We need not be prisoners of our history My generation in Britain sees Ireland differently today and probably the same generation here feels differently about Britain.
We can understand the emotions generated by Northern Ireland's troubles, but we cannot really believe, as we approach the 21st century, there is not a better way forward to the future than murder, terrorism and sectarian hatred.
We see a changed Republic of Ireland today:
a modern, open economy;
after the long years of emigration, people beginning to come back for the quality
of life you now offer;
Trang 5 a country part of Europe's mainstream, having made the most of European structural funds but no longer reliant on them;
some of the best business brains in the business world;
leaders in popular culture, U2, the Corrs, Boyzone, B-Witched;
a country that had the courage to elect its first woman president and liked it so much, you did it again; and the politics of Northern Ireland would be better for a few more women in prominent positions too
And you see, I hope, a Britain emerging from its post-Empire malaise, modernizing, becoming as confident of its future as it once was of its past.
The programme of the new Labour government: driving up standards in education; welfare reform; monetary and fiscal stability as the foundation of a modern economy; massive investment in our public services tied to the challenge of modernization; a huge programme of constitutional change; a new positive attitude to Europe it is a program of national renewal as ambitious as any undertaken in any western democracy in recent times.
It is precisely the dramatic changes in both countries that allow us to see the possibilities of change in our relationship with each other.
It will require vision, but no more than the vision that has transformed Ireland It will require
imagination, but no more than that shown by the British people in the last two years The old ways are changing between London and Dublin And this can spur the change and healing in Northern Ireland too The old notions of unionist supremacy and of narrow nationalism are gradually having their fingers prised from their grip on the future.
Different traditions have to understand each other Just as we must understand your yearning for a united Ireland, so too must you understand what the best of unionism is about They are good and decent people, just like you They want to remain part of the UK and I have made it clear that I value that wish They feel threatened Threatened by the terrorism with which they have had to live for so long Threatened, until the Good Friday Agreement, that they would be forced into a united Ireland against the will of the people of Northern Ireland.
Yet they realize now that a framework in which consent is guaranteed is also one in which basic rights
of equality and justice are guaranteed, and that those who wish a united Ireland are free to make that claim, provided it is democratically expressed, just as those who believe in the Union can make their claim.
It is all about belonging The wish of unionists to belong to the UK The wish of nationalists to belong
to Ireland Both traditions are reasonable There are no absolutes The beginning of understanding is
to realize that.
My point is very simple Those urges to belong, divergent as they are, can live together more easily if
we, Britain and the Irish Republic, can live closer together too.
Down through the centuries, Ireland and Britain have inflicted too much pain, each on the other But now, the UK and Ireland as two modern countries, we can try to put our histories behind us, try to forgive and forget those age-old enmities.
We have both grown up now A new generation is in power in each country.
Trang 6We now have a real opportunity to put our relations on a completely new footing, not least through working together in Europe I know that is what our peoples want and I believe we can deliver it.
Our ties are already rich and diverse: the UK is the largest market for Irish goods And you are our fifth most important market in the world;
in trade unions, professional bodies and the voluntary sector, our people work together to help their communities; in culture, sport and academic life there is an enormous crossover Our theatres are full of Irish plays Our television is full of Irish actors and presenters Your national football team has a few English accents too;
above all, at the personal level, millions of Irish people live and work in Britain, and hundreds of thousands of us visit you every year
As ties strengthen, so the past can be put behind us Nowhere was this better illustrated than at the remarkable ceremony at Messines earlier this month Representatives of nationalists and unionists travelled together to Flanders to remember shared suffering Our army bands played together Our heads of state stood together With our other European neighbors, such a ceremony would be
commonplace For us it was a first It shows how far we have come But it also shows we still have far
to go.
The relationships across these islands are also changing in a significant way.
The Taoiseach has spoken of the exciting new relationships that will unfold as the people of Scotland and Wales, as well as Northern Ireland, express their wishes through their own parliaments and assemblies The new British Irish Council must reflect and explore these opportunities We have much
to gain by co-operating better across these islands in areas like transport, education, the fight against illegal drugs.
But I want our co-operation to be wider and more fundamental still above all in Europe.
It is 25 years since we both joined what was then the EEC We have had different approaches to agriculture, to monetary union, to defence But increasingly we share a common agenda and common objectives:
completion of the Single Market and structural economic reform;
better conditions for growth and jobs in Europe;
successful enlargement;
a united and coherent foreign policy voice for Europe;
a more effective fight against crime, drugs, illegal immigration and environmental damage;
flexible, open and accountable European institutions
We must work to make the single currency a success Unlike Ireland, we are not joining in the first wave But we have made clear that we are prepared to join later if the economic benefits are clear and unambiguous For my government, there is no political or constitutional barrier to joining There is no resistance to fullhearted European co-operation wherever this brings added value to us all
Enlargement will increasingly test our political and economic imaginations, as we struggle with policy reform and future financing The international financial system must be reformed We must learn to apply real political will and harness our skills and resources far more effectively to solve regional
Trang 7problems notably in the Balkans and the Middle East Above all, Europe must restate its vision for today's world, so that our people understand why it is so important This means defining the priorities where common European action makes obvious sense and can make a real difference, like economic co-ordination, foreign and security policy, the environment, crime and drugs It also means
distinguishing them from areas where countries or regions can best continue to make policy
themselves, to suit local circumstances, while still learning from each other for example, tax,
education, health, welfare.
That is why I want to forge new bonds with Dublin Together we can have a stronger voice in Europe and work to shape its future in a way which suits all our people It is said there was a time when Irish diplomats in Europe spoke French in meetings to ensure they were clearly distinguished from us I hope those days are long behind us We can accomplish much more when our voices speak in
harmony.
Our ministers and officials are increasingly consulting and coordinating systematically We can do more I believe we can transform our links if both sides are indeed ready to make the effort For our part, we are.
This must also involve a dramatic new effort in bilateral relations, above all to bring our young
generations together We need new youth and school exchanges, contact through the new University for Industry, better cultural programs in both directions We need to work much more closely to fight organized crime and drugs We can do much more to enrich each other's experience in areas like health care and welfare.
None of this threatens our separate identities Co-operation does not mean losing distinctiveness What the Taoiseach and I seek is a new dimension to our relationships a real partnership between governments and peoples, which will engage our societies at every level
We have therefore agreed to launch a new intensive process The Taoiseach and I will meet again next spring in London, with key ministerial colleagues, to give this the necessary impetus and agenda, and will thereafter meet at least once a year to review progress This will be part of the work of the new Intergovernmental Conference The objective is threefold:
first, revitalized and modernized bilateral relations where we can finally put the burden of history behind us;
second, a habit of close consultation on European issues, marked by a step-change
in contacts at every level, particularly in key areas such as agriculture, justice and home affairs, employment and foreign and security policy;
third, working together on international issues more widely, for example UN peacekeeping, to which both our countries have been important contributors, arms proliferation and the Middle East
What I welcome above all is that, after keeping us apart for so long, Northern Ireland is now helping
to bring us closer together But I do not believe Northern Ireland can or should any longer define the relationship between us Our common interests, what we can achieve together, go much, much wider than that.
Our two countries can look to the future with confidence in our separate ways But we will be stronger and more prosperous working together
Trang 8That is my ambition I know it is shared by the Taoiseach I believe it is an ambition shared by both our nations The 21st century awaits us Let us confront its challenge with confidence, and together give our children the future they deserve.
Tony Blair - November 26, 1998
On Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, the worst
terrorist attack in U.S history occurred as
four large passenger jets were hijacked then
crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons The
attack was carried out by four separate teams
of terrorists from the Middle East, all
operating from inside the U.S Each team had
boarded an early-morning flight, posing as
passengers, then forcibly commandeered the
aircraft
Two fully-fueled jumbo jets, American
Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 persons and
United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65
persons, had departed Boston for Los
Angeles Both jets were diverted by the
hijackers to New York City where they were
piloted by the terrorists themselves into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center The impact and subsequent fire caused both 110-story towers to collapse, killing 2,752 persons, including hundreds of fire-rescue workers and persons employed in the towers
United Airlines Flight 93, which had departed from Newark for San Francisco, and American Airlines Flight 77, which had departed from Dulles (Virginia) for Los Angeles, were also hijacked Flight 77, with
64 persons on board, was diverted to Washington, D.C., then piloted by the terrorists into the Pentagon building, killing everyone on board and 125 military personnel inside the building Flight 93, with 44 persons on board, was also diverted toward Washington but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the terrorists on board
On Thursday, September 20th, President George W Bush gave this much-anticipated speech before a Joint Session of Congress, outlining America's reaction to the unprecedented attack against its people
Listen to the entire speech
Mr Speaker, Mr President Pro Tempore, members of Congress, and fellow Americans:
In the normal course of events, presidents come to this chamber to report on the state of the Union Tonight, no such report is needed It has already been delivered by the American people.
Trang 9We have seen it in the courage of passengers who rushed terrorists to save others on the ground Passengers like an exceptional man named Todd Beamer And would you please help me welcome his wife Lisa Beamer here tonight?
We have seen the state of our Union in the endurance of rescuers working past exhaustion.
We've seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers in English, Hebrew and Arabic.
We have seen the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.
My fellow citizens, for the last nine days, the entire world has seen for itself the state of our Union, and
it is strong.
Tonight, we are a country awakened to danger and called to defend freedom Our grief has turned to anger and anger to resolution Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our
enemies, justice will be done.
I thank the Congress for its leadership at such an important time.
All of America was touched on the evening of the tragedy to see Republicans and Democrats joined together on the steps of this Capitol singing "God Bless America."
And you did more than sing You acted, by delivering $40 billion to rebuild our communities and meet the needs of our military Speaker Hastert, Minority Leader Gephardt, Majority Leader Daschle and Senator Lott, I thank you for your friendship, for your leadership and for your service to our country And on behalf of the American people, I thank the world for its outpouring of support.
America will never forget the sounds of our national anthem playing at Buckingham Palace, on the streets of Paris and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.
We will not forget South Korean children gathering to pray outside our embassy in Seoul, or the prayers of sympathy offered at a mosque in Cairo.
We will not forget moments of silence and days of mourning in Australia and Africa and Latin
America.
Nor will we forget the citizens of 80 other nations who died with our own Dozens of Pakistanis, more than 130 Israelis, more than 250 citizens of India, men and women from El Salvador, Iran, Mexico and Japan, and hundreds of British citizens.
America has no truer friend than Great Britain.
Once again, we are joined together in a great cause.
I'm so honored the British prime minister has crossed an ocean to show his unity with America.
Thank you for coming, friend.
Trang 10On September the 11th, enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country Americans have known wars, but for the past 136 years they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one
Sunday in 1941 Americans have known the casualties of war, but not at the center of a great city on a peaceful morning.
Americans have known surprise attacks, but never before on thousands of civilians.
All of this was brought upon us in a single day, and night fell on a different world, a world where freedom itself is under attack.
Americans have many questions tonight Americans are asking, "Who attacked our country?"
The evidence we have gathered all points to a collection of loosely affiliated terrorist organizations known as al-Qaida They are some of the murderers indicted for bombing American embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and responsible for bombing the USS Cole.
Al-Qaida is to terror what the Mafia is to crime But its goal is not making money Its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere.
The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics; a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam.
The terrorists' directive commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans and make
no distinctions among military and civilians, including women and children.
This group and its leader, a person named Osama bin Laden, are linked to many other organizations
in different countries, including the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan There are thousands of these terrorists in more than 60 countries.
They are recruited from their own nations and neighborhoods and brought to camps in places like Afghanistan, where they are trained in the tactics of terror They are sent back to their homes or sent
to hide in countries around the world to plot evil and destruction.
The leadership of al-Qaida has great influence in Afghanistan and supports the Taliban regime in controlling most of that country In Afghanistan we see al-Qaida's vision for the world Afghanistan's people have been brutalized, many are starving and many have fled.
Women are not allowed to attend school You can be jailed for owning a television Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.
The United States respects the people of Afghanistan after all, we are currently its largest source of humanitarian aid but we condemn the Taliban regime.
It is not only repressing its own people, it is threatening people everywhere by sponsoring and
sheltering and supplying terrorists.
By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder And tonight the United States of America makes the following demands on the Taliban.
Trang 11Deliver to United States authorities all of the leaders of al-Qaida who hide in your land.
Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens you have unjustly imprisoned Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country Close immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan And hand over every terrorist and every person and their support structure to appropriate authorities.
Give the United States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.
These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion.
The Taliban must act and act immediately.
They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.
I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world We respect your faith It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts
as friends Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah
blaspheme the name of Allah.
The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself.
The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends It is not our many Arab friends Our enemy is
a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.
Our war on terror begins with al-Qaida, but it does not end there.
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.
Americans are asking, "Why do they hate us?"
They hate what they see right here in this chamber: a democratically elected government Their
leaders are self-appointed They hate our freedoms: our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other.
They want to overthrow existing governments in many Muslim countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan They want to drive Israel out of the Middle East They want to drive Christians and Jews out of vast regions of Asia and Africa.
These terrorists kill not merely to end lives, but to disrupt and end a way of life With every atrocity, they hope that America grows fearful, retreating from the world and forsaking our friends They stand against us because we stand in their way.
We're not deceived by their pretenses to piety.
We have seen their kind before They're the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century
By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions, by abandoning every value except the will to power, they follow in the path of fascism, Nazism and totalitarianism And they will follow that path all the way to where it ends in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
Trang 12Americans are asking, "How will we fight and win this war?" We will direct every resource at our command every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence and every necessary weapon of war to the destruction and to the defeat of the global terror network.
Now this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.
Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen It may include dramatic strikes visible on TV and covert operations secret even in success.
We will starve terrorists of funding, turn them one against another, drive them from place to place until there is no refuge or no rest.
And we will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism Every nation in every region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime Our nation has been put on notice, we're not immune from attack We will take defensive measures against terrorism to protect Americans.
Today, dozens of federal departments and agencies, as well as state and local governments, have responsibilities affecting homeland security.
These efforts must be coordinated at the highest level So tonight, I announce the creation of a
Cabinet-level position reporting directly to me, the Office of Homeland Security.
And tonight, I also announce a distinguished American to lead this effort, to strengthen American security: a military veteran, an effective governor, a true patriot, a trusted friend, Pennsylvania's Tom Ridge.
He will lead, oversee and coordinate a comprehensive national strategy to safeguard our country against terrorism and respond to any attacks that may come.
These measures are essential The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop
it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.
Many will be involved in this effort, from FBI agents, to intelligence operatives, to the reservists we have called to active duty All deserve our thanks, and all have our prayers.
And tonight a few miles from the damaged Pentagon, I have a message for our military: Be ready I have called the armed forces to alert, and there is a reason.
The hour is coming when America will act, and you will make us proud.
This is not, however, just America's fight And what is at stake is not just America's freedom.
This is the world's fight This is civilization's fight This is the fight of all who believe in progress and pluralism, tolerance and freedom.
Trang 13We ask every nation to join us.
We will ask and we will need the help of police forces, intelligence services and banking systems
around the world The United States is grateful that many nations and many international
organizations have already responded with sympathy and with support nations from Latin America,
to Asia, to Africa, to Europe, to the Islamic world.
Perhaps the NATO charter reflects best the attitude of the world: An attack on one is an attack on all The civilized world is rallying to America's side.
They understand that if this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own citizens may be next Terror unanswered cannot only bring down buildings, it can threaten the stability of legitimate
governments.
And you know what? We're not going to allow it.
Americans are asking, "What is expected of us?"
I ask you to live your lives and hug your children.
I know many citizens have fears tonight, and I ask you to be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.
I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here.
We're in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith.
I ask you to continue to support the victims of this tragedy with your contributions Those who want to give can go to a central source of information, libertyunites.org, to find the names of groups providing direct help in New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The thousands of FBI agents who are now at work in this investigation may need your cooperation, and I ask you to give it I ask for your patience with the delays and inconveniences that may
accompany tighter security and for your patience in what will be a long struggle.
I ask your continued participation and confidence in the American economy Terrorists attacked a symbol of American prosperity; they did not touch its source.
America is successful because of the hard work and creativity and enterprise of our people These were the true strengths of our economy before September 11th, and they are our strengths today.
And finally, please continue praying for the victims of terror and their families, for those in uniform and for our great country Prayer has comforted us in sorrow and will help strengthen us for the journey ahead.
Tonight I thank my fellow Americans for what you have already done and for what you will do.
And ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, I thank you, their representatives, for what you have already done and for what we will do together.
Trang 14Tonight we face new and sudden national challenges.
We will come together to improve air safety, to dramatically expand the number of air marshals on domestic flights and take new measures to prevent hijacking.
We will come together to promote stability and keep our airlines flying with direct assistance during this emergency.
We will come together to give law enforcement the additional tools it needs to track down terror here
After all that has just passed, all the lives taken and all the possibilities and hopes that died with them,
it is natural to wonder if America's future is one of fear.
Some speak of an age of terror I know there are struggles ahead and dangers to face But this country will define our times, not be defined by them.
As long as the United States of America is determined and strong, this will not be an age of terror This will be an age of liberty here and across the world.
Great harm has been done to us We have suffered great loss And in our grief and anger, we have found our mission and our moment.
Freedom and fear are at war 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 lift the 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.
It is my hope that in the months and years ahead life will return almost to normal We'll go back to our lives and routines, and that is good.
Even grief recedes with time and grace.
But our resolve must not pass Each of us will remember what happened that day and to whom it happened We will remember the moment the news came, where we were and what we were doing.
Trang 15Some will remember an image of a fire or story of rescue Some will carry memories of a face and a voice gone forever.
And I will carry this It is the police shield of a man named George Howard, who died at the World Trade Center trying to save others.
It was given to me by his mom, Arlene, as a proud memorial to her son It is my reminder of lives that ended and a task that does not end.
I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.
The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain Freedom and fear, justice and cruelty, have always been at war, and we know that God is not neutral between them.
Fellow citizens, we'll meet violence with patient justice, assured of the rightness of our cause and confident of the victories to come.
In all that lies before us, may God grant us wisdom, and may he watch over the United States of
America.
Thank you.
President George W Bush - September 20, 2001
This speech was given by President Bill Clinton to reporters in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday, December 11, 1998, at 4:11 p.m., just minutes before the House Judiciary Committee voted to pass its first article of impeachment
The House impeachment proceedings marked the culmination of a long chain of legal entanglements
resulting from a sweeping investigation of the President by Independent Counsel Ken Starr as well as a private lawsuit concerning alleged sexual harassment committed by Clinton before he became President
Additionally, the President had strongly denied, then later reluctantly admitted a relationship "that was not appropriate" with a young White House intern named Monica Lewinsky The President's initial denial had been staunchly defended by First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, White House staffers, and various friends and supporters of the President – all of whom knew by now they had been duped
Listen to the entire speech Good afternoon
As anyone close to me knows, for months I have been grappling with how best to reconcile myself to the American people, to acknowledge my own wrongdoing and still to maintain my focus on the work
of the presidency
Others are presenting my defense on the facts, the law and the Constitution Nothing I can say now can add to that
Trang 16What I want the American people to know, what I want the Congress to know is that I am profoundly sorry for all I have done wrong in words and deeds
I never should have misled the country, the Congress, my friends or my family Quite simply, I gave in
to my shame I have been condemned by my accusers with harsh words
And while it's hard to hear yourself called deceitful and manipulative, I remember Ben Franklin's admonition that our critics are our friends, for they do show us our faults
Mere words cannot fully express the profound remorse I feel for what our country is going through and for what members of both parties in Congress are now forced to deal with These past months have been a torturous process of coming to terms with what I did I understand that accountability demands consequences, and I'm prepared to accept them
Painful as the condemnation of the Congress would be, it would pale in comparison to the
consequences of the pain I have caused my family There is no greater agony
Like anyone who honestly faces the shame of wrongful conduct, I would give anything to go back and undo what I did
But one of the painful truths I have to live with is the reality that that is simply not possible An old and dear friend of mine recently sent me the wisdom of a poet who wrote, "The moving finger writes and having writ, moves on Nor all your piety nor wit shall lure it back to cancel half a line Nor all your tears wash out a word of it.''
So nothing, not piety, nor tears, nor wit, nor torment can alter what I have done I must make my peace with that
I must also be at peace with the fact that the public consequences of my actions are in the hands of the American people and their representatives in the Congress
Should they determine that my errors of word and deed require their rebuke and censure, I am ready
Thank you very much.
President Bill Clinton - December 11, 1998
On August 2, 1990, tanks and soldiers from Iraq crossed the border into neighboring Kuwait and seized the tiny, oil-rich nation Iraqi troops then began massing along the border of Saudi Arabia