By By Terry R. Cassreino / assistant managing editor
Sept. 13, 2003
JACKSON President Bush said Friday the only way to eliminate the threat of terrorism is go on the offensive just like the United States did this year when it ousted Saddam Hussein.
Bush shared his thoughts about the nation's ongoing war against terrorism with a group of Republicans attending a political fund-raiser at the Mississippi Coliseum near downtown Jackson.
The president said he will never forget the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. On that day, he said, the country's leaders decided to find those responsible and bring them to justice.
The attacks led to U.S. military action in Afghanistan, where troops ousted the ruling Taliban. This year, he said, American troops removed Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and gave people there a taste of freedom.
Bush said the United States now has the responsibility to spread freedom across the world the only way to ensure that America is, and remains, secure from terrorists.
Free people, he said, don't develop weapons of mass destruction.