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Skriven 2006-03-16 23:33:04 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (060316) for Thu, 2006 Mar 16
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Fact Sheet: The President's National Security Strategy
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For Immediate Release
March 16, 2006
Fact Sheet: The President's National Security Strategy
>The ideals that have inspired our history _ freedom, democracy, and human
dignity _ are increasingly inspiring individuals and nations throughout the
world. _ We choose leadership over isolationism, and the pursuit of free
trade and open markets over protectionism. We choose to deal with
challenges now rather than leaving them for future generations. We fight
our enemies abroad instead of waiting for them to arrive in our country. We
seek to shape the world, not merely be shaped by it; to influence events
for the better instead of being at their mercy._
President George W. Bush
Letter Introducing The National Security Strategy
March 16, 2006
Presidential Action
On March 16, 2006, the White House released President Bush's second term
National Security Strategy (NSS), which reflects the President's most
solemn obligation: to protect the security of the American people.
The NSS explains how we are working to protect the American people, advance
American interests, enhance global security, and expand global liberty and
prosperity. The strategy is founded upon two pillars:
1. The first pillar is promoting freedom, justice, and human dignity _
working to end tyranny, to promote effective democracies, and to extend
prosperity through free and fair trade and wise development policies.
þ The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the
success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our
world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
þ In the world today, the fundamental character of regimes matters as
much as the distribution of power among them. Free governments are
accountable to their people, govern their territory effectively,
and pursue economic and political policies that benefit their
citizens. Free governments do not oppress their people or attack
other free nations. Peace and international stability are most
reliably built on a foundation of freedom.
2. The second pillar of the strategy is confronting the challenges of our
time by leading a growing community of democracies.
þ Many of the problems we face _ from the threat of pandemic disease,
to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, to terrorism, to
human trafficking, to natural disasters _ reach across borders.
Effective multinational efforts are essential to solve these
problems. Yet history has shown that only when we do our part will
others do theirs. America will continue to lead.
The President's National Security Strategy specifically focuses on the
following areas:
Champion Aspirations for Human Dignity
þ The United States champions freedom because doing so reflects our
values and advances our interests.
þ Championing freedom advances our interests because the survival of
liberty at home increasingly depends on the success of liberty
abroad.
þ Because democracies are the most responsible members of the
international system, promoting democracy is the most effective
long-term measure for strengthening international stability,
reducing regional conflicts, countering terrorism and
terror-supporting extremism, and extending peace and prosperity.
þ To protect our Nation and honor our values, the United States seeks to
extend freedom across the globe by leading an international effort to
end tyranny and to promote effective democracy. We will employ the full
array of political, economic, diplomatic, and other tools at our
disposal. Effective democracies:
þ Honor and uphold basic human rights, including freedom of religion,
conscience, speech, assembly, association, and press;
þ Are responsive to their citizens, submitting to the will of the
people, especially when people vote to change their government;
þ Exercise effective sovereignty and maintain order within their own
borders, protect independent and impartial systems of justice,
punish crime, embrace the rule of law, and resist corruption; and
þ Limit the reach of government, protecting the institutions of civil
society, including the family, religious communities, voluntary
associations, private property, independent business, and a market
economy.
þ Elections are the most visible sign of a free society and can play a
critical role in advancing effective democracy. But elections alone are
not enough _ they must be reinforced by other values, rights, and
institutions to bring about lasting freedom. Our goal is human liberty
protected by democratic institutions.
þ We have a responsibility to promote human freedom. Yet freedom cannot
be imposed; it must be chosen. The form that freedom and democracy take
in any land will reflect the history, culture, and habits unique to its
people.
Strengthen Alliances to Defeat Global Terrorism and Work to Prevent Attacks
Against Us and Our Friends
þ We are a nation at war. We have made progress in the war against
terror, but we are in a long struggle. America is safer, but not yet
safe.
þ In the short run, the fight involves using military force and other
instruments of national power to kill or capture the terrorists, deny
them safe haven or control of any nation, prevent them from gaining
access to weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and cut off their sources
of support.
þ In the long run, winning the war on terror means winning the battle of
ideas, for it is ideas that can turn the disenchanted into murderers
willing to kill innocent victims.
þ Terrorists exploit political alienation. Democracy gives people an
ownership stake in society.
þ Terrorists exploit grievances that can be blamed on others.
Democracy offers the rule of law, the peaceful resolution of
disputes, and the habits of advancing interests through compromise.
þ Terrorists exploit sub-cultures of conspiracy and misinformation.
Democracy offers freedom of speech, independent media, and the
marketplace of ideas.
þ Terrorists exploit an ideology that justifies murder. Democracy
offers respect for human dignity.
þ The advance of freedom and human dignity through democracy is the
long-term solution to the transnational terrorism of today. To create
the space and time for that long-term solution to take root, there are
four steps we will take in the short term: We will 1) prevent attacks
by terrorist networks before they occur; 2) deny WMD to rogue states
and to terrorist allies who would use them without hesitation; 3) deny
terrorist groups the support and sanctuary of rogue states; and 4) deny
the terrorists control of any nation that they would use as a base and
launching pad for terror.
Work with Others to Defuse Regional Conflicts
þ If left unaddressed, regional conflicts can lead to failed states,
humanitarian disasters, and ungoverned areas that can become safe
havens for terrorists. We will work to address regional conflicts at
three levels of engagement: conflict prevention and resolution;
conflict intervention; and post-conflict stabilization and
reconstruction.
þ Patient efforts to end conflicts should not be mistaken for tolerance
of the intolerable.
þ Genocide must not be tolerated.
Prevent Our Enemies from Threatening Us, Our Allies, and Our Friends with
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)
þ We are committed to keeping the world's most dangerous weapons out of
the hands of the world's most dangerous people.
þ The best way to block aspiring nuclear states or nuclear terrorists
is to deny them access to the essential ingredient of fissile
material.
þ We are countering the spread of biological weapons by improving our
capacity to detect and respond to biological attacks, securing
dangerous pathogens, and limiting the spread of materials useful
for biological weapons.
þ We are working to identify and disrupt terrorist networks that seek
chemical weapons capabilities, and we are seeking to deny them
access to materials needed to make these weapons.
þ If necessary, under long-standing principles of self defense, we do not
rule out the use of force before attacks occur. When the consequences
of an attack with WMD are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford
to stand idly by as grave dangers materialize.
Ignite a New Era of Global Economic Growth through Free Markets and Free
Trade
þ We are working to open markets and integrate the global economy through
the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization and through
regional and bilateral Free Trade Agreements. To promote energy
independence, we are working to open, integrate, and diversify energy
markets.
þ To ensure stability and growth in the international financial system,
we will work to promote growth-oriented economic policies worldwide;
encourage adoption of flexible exchange rates and open markets for
financial services; strengthen international financial institutions;
build local capital markets and the formal economy in the developing
world; and create a more transparent, accountable, and secure
international financial system.
Expand the Circle of Development by Opening Societies and Building the
Infrastructure of Democracy
þ Development reinforces diplomacy and defense, reducing long-term
threats to our national security by helping to build stable,
prosperous, and peaceful societies. Improving the way we use foreign
assistance will make it more effective in strengthening responsible
governments, responding to suffering, and improving people's lives.
þ Long-term development must include encouraging governments to make wise
choices and assisting them in implementing those choices. We will
encourage and reward good behavior rather than reinforce negative
behavior.
Develop Agendas for Cooperative Action with the Other Centers of Global
Power
þ The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great
ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century and finds
the great powers all on the same side _ opposing the terrorists. This
circumstance differs profoundly from the ideological struggles of the
20th century, which saw the great powers divided by ideology as well as
by national interest.
þ We enjoy unprecedented levels of cooperation with other nations on many
of our highest national security priorities.
þ Going forward, the NSS describes our strategy for cooperating with
partners in critical regions of the world and discusses the freedom
agenda as it relates to different regional contexts.
Transform America's National Security Institutions to Meet the Challenges
and Opportunities of the 21st Century
þ We have taken a number of steps in the last four years to transform our
key national security institutions, including establishing the
Department of Homeland Security; launching the most significant
reorganization of the Intelligence Community since the 1947 National
Security Act; and completing the Department of Defense's 2006
Quadrennial Defense Review. We must extend and enhance the
transformation of key institutions, both domestically and abroad.
þ At home, we will sustain the transformation already under way in
the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice,
including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Intelligence
Community.
þ We will continue to reorient the Department of State toward
transformational diplomacy, which promotes effective democracy and
responsible sovereignty. And we will improve the capacity of
agencies to plan, prepare, coordinate, integrate, and execute
responses covering the full range of crisis contingencies and
long-term challenges.
þ Abroad, we will promote meaningful reform of the United Nations to
improve its accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness. We will
enhance the role of democracies and democracy promotion through
international and multilateral institutions. And we will establish
results-oriented partnerships to meet new challenges and
opportunities.
Engage the Opportunities and Confront the Challenges of Globalization
þ Globalization presents many opportunities. Much of the world's
prosperity and improved living standards in recent years derives from
the expansion of global trade, investment, information, and technology.
þ Globalization has also exposed us to new challenges and changed the way
old challenges touch our interests and values, while also greatly
enhancing our ability to respond. Examples include public health
challenges like pandemics that recognize no borders; illicit trade,
whether in drugs, human beings, or sex, that exploits the modern era's
greater ease of transport and exchange; and environmental destruction,
whether caused by human behavior or cataclysmic mega-disasters such as
floods, earthquakes, or tsunamis.
þ Effective democracies are better able to deal with these challenges
than are repressive or poorly governed states. These challenges require
effective democracies to come together in innovative ways.
þ The United States will lead the effort to reform existing institutions
and create new ones _ including forging new partnerships between
governmental and nongovernmental actors, and with transnational and
international organizations.
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