The action we take and the decisions we make in this decade will have consequences far into this century. If America shows weakness and uncertainty, the world will drift toward tragedy. That will not happen on my watch.
George W. BushRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote distinguishes between radical terrorists and the broader Muslim community, emphasizing that the true enemy lies in extremism, not in Islam itself.
In this quote, George W. Bush articulates a clear distinction between terrorism and the religion of Islam, asserting that true Muslims are not enemies to America but rather victims of those who distort their faith for extremist purposes. He underscores that the real threat comes from a radical group of terrorists and their supporters, rather than the millions of peaceful Muslims and Arabs worldwide, encouraging understanding rather than generalization. This reinforces the importance of recognizing the true nature of terrorism without unfairly attributing guilt to an entire faith or ethnicity.
Themes
TerrorismIslamExtremismUnderstandingPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a community meeting discussing the importance of tolerance towards Muslims after a terrorist attack.
More from George W. Bush
All quotes βThousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror. The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.
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Use power to help people. For we are given power not to advance our own purposes nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power and it is to serve people.
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We are not deceived by their pretenses to piety. We have seen their kind before. They are 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, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies.
George W. BushRead
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