International

White House Freshens Anti-Terrorism Strategy

By Don Gonyea

Published September 5, 2006 at 1:00 PM PDT

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

President Bush greets members of the U.S. military after speaking to the Military Officers Association of America, Sept. 5, 2006, in Washington D.C. The president spoke about the war on terrorism and the situation in Iraq.

In the second of a series of planned speeches on the need to confront the threat posed by terrorism, President Bush on Tuesday described the war in Iraq in terms of the military struggles of Europe in the 20th century.

Speaking in Washington, D.C., the president said there had been progress in making the country safer in the five years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He also said that, even though U.S. actions have weakened al-Qaida since the Sept. 11 attacks, Americans must take seriously the words of the enemy.

Also Tuesday, the White House released a document titled the National Strategy for Fighting Terrorism, which says that America is safer than it was five years ago, but that significant threats remain.

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In response to the president and the White House report, Democrats accused the president of failing the national security test. At a news conference at the Capitol, retired Gen. Wesley Clark said that the Iraq War has actually put America more at risk.

"Invading Iraq was an unnecessary war," Clark said. "It distracted us from what we were trying to accomplish in Afghanistan, and it's been counterproductive in winning the war on terror."

The White House dismissed suggestions that it is politicizing the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as part of the fall congressional campaign. Press secretary Tony Snow says that terrorism is what Americans are talking about and that the president is simply presenting his case to the public.