(Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State) - The United States has chosen to stand with moderates and reformers in the broader Middle East in an effort to create a world in which the voices of moderation are empowered, and where the extremists are marginalized, President Bush said, reports Trend.
Speaking in his weekly radio address to the American people September 23, the president said every nation must make a choice: It can either support moderates and reformers or yield the future to the terrorists and extremists.
He also said the international community must make a straightforward choice between allowing the Middle East to continue on a course that will lead to terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons, and preventing that outcome by confronting the ideology of hate and helping the people of the Middle East build a future of hope.
Bush said all civilized nations, especially those in the Muslim world, are bound together in this struggle between moderation and extremism, and that through international cooperation it will be possible to roll back this grave threat to our way of life, help the inhabitants of the Middle East claim their freedom, and create a safer and more hopeful world.
The president recalled his meetings during the U.N. General Assembly and at the White House with moderate Muslim leaders such as Iraq's President Jalal Talebani and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
By supporting moderate leaders such as President Abbas, the United States can help Israelis and Palestinians build a more hopeful future and achieve the peace we all want in the Holy Land, he said.
He described Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai as two leaders who are working to defeat the forces of terrorism and extremism, and said he plans to meet with both of them together at the White House September 27.