The
During the speech which linked the
Bush told the Military Officers' Association of America that Islamic radicals wanted weapons of mass destruction to "blackmail the free world and spread their ideologies of hate and raise a mortal threat to the American people".
He said: "If we allow them to do this, if we retreat from
White House officials denied the president's remarks were linked to November's elections but Republican strategies for the
Security strategy
The national security strategy report on combating terrorism, which was released to coincide with the speech, is the product of months of work, officials said. The 23-page document called
Bush said that al Qaeda intends to create many bases worldwide "from which they can plan new attacks and advance their vision of a unified totalitarian Islamic state that can confront and eventually destroy the free world." He added that Bin Laden has declared
Bush has often faced criticism for trying to tie
The
"Barbarian's words"
John Kerry,
Kerry said: "Afghanistan is slipping back into chaos, Pakistan is one coup away from becoming a radical Islamic state with nuclear weapons, Iran is closer to a nuclear arsenal, and Iraq has become a recruitment poster for terror ... A new document may get the administration through the next news cycle, but it will not win the war on terror. We need to change course, not more of the same."
The updated White House security strategy followed the release of a video during the week that was purported to be from al Qaeda. The tape featured an American - believed by the FBI to have attended al Qaeda training camps - calling for his countrymen to convert to Islam.
Fran Townsend, a special assistant to Bush for homeland security and counterterrorism, said she did not think the tape suggested another strike.
She said: "We've seen tapes before. We've seen these sort of releases right near September 11."
Photo Caption
George W Bush, the