A STRONG, RESPECTED AMERICA
Alone among nations, America was born in pursuit of an idea – that a free people with diverse
beliefs could govern themselves in peace. For more than a century, America has spared no effort
to defend and promote that idea around the world. And over and over, that effort has been
marked by the exercise of American leadership to forge powerful alliances based on mutual
respect with longtime allies and reluctant friends; with nations already living in the light of
democracy and with peoples struggling to join them.
The might of our alliances, coupled with the strength of our democratic ideals, has been a
driving force in the survival and success of freedom – in two World Wars, in the Korean War, in
the Cold War, in the Gulf War and in Kosovo. America led instead of going it alone. We extended
a hand, not a fist. We respected the world – and the world respected us.
As Americans, we respect and honor our veterans. We are indebted to all those courageous
men and women who have answered our country's call to duty. Their service and sacrifice, their
dedication and love of country advance our cause of freedom and uphold our finest traditions as a
nation.
That is the America we believe in. That is the America we are fighting for. And that is the
America we can be.
But the Bush Administration has walked away from more than a hundred years of American
leadership in the world to embrace a new – and dangerously ineffective – disregard for the world.
They rush to force before exhausting diplomacy. They bully rather than persuade. They act
alone when they could assemble a team. They hope for the best when they should prepare for the
worst. Time and again, this Administration confuses leadership with going it alone and
engagement with compromise of principle. They do not understand that real leadership means
standing by your principles and rallying others to join you.
John Kerry, John Edwards and the Democratic Party believe in a better, stronger America – an
America that is respected, not just feared, and an America that listens and leads. Our vision has
deep roots in our Declaration of Independence and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Four Freedoms,
and in the tough-minded tradition of engagement and leadership—a tradition forged by Wilson
and Roosevelt in two world wars, then championed by Truman and Kennedy during the Cold
War. We believe in an America that people around the world admire, because they know we
cherish not just our freedom, but theirs. Not just our democracy, but their hope for it. Not just
our peace and security, but the world's. We believe in an America that cherishes freedom,
safeguards our people, forges alliances, and commands respect. That is the America we are going
to build.
Our overriding goals are the same as ever: to protect our people and our way of life; and to
help build a safer, more peaceful, more prosperous, more democratic world. Today, we face three
great challenges above all others – first, to win the global war against terror; second, to stop the
spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; and third, to promote democracy and
freedom around the world, starting with a peaceful and stable Iraq.
To meet these challenges, we need a new national security policy guided by four new
imperatives: First, America must launch and lead a new era of alliances for the post-September 11
world. Second, we must modernize the world's most powerful military to meet the new threats.
Third, in addition to our military might, we must deploy all that is in America's arsenal – our
diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas.
Fourth and finally, to safeguard our freedom and ensure our nation's future, we must end our
dependence on Mideast oil. |
