Terrorism hangs like a dark cloud over our hopes. It is the antithesis of everything America stands for. Its perpetrators reject the rule of law and basic human decency. They are not able to achieve their goals either through conventional diplomatic or military means, so they seek to impose their will on others through acts of violence, almost always aimed at the innocent. Domestic terrorism is a crime against the order and tranquillity of our nation.
International terrorism is an assault on the peace and stability of the world.
That is what was under assault when terrorists attacked our forces in Saudi Arabia last November, and again in June. I just returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia where I met with my Saudi counterpart, Prince Sultan, to develop a mutual response to the recent bomb attacks on American military forces there. To respond intelligently, we must first understand the nature of the problem. To answer this question you need to go back in time about six years, to the Gulf War, which started when Iraq invaded Kuwait. We fought that war because Iraq had not only taken over Kuwait and its oil fields, but also threatened Saudi Arabia and its oil fields.