Bush cites progress in war on terror Bangor appearance draws 4,000

BANGOR – Energizing the campaigns of Maine’s top-of-the-ticket Republican candidates, President Bush told a crowd of nearly 4,000 on Tuesday that progress has been made in America’s war against terrorism.

“There’s still an enemy out there that’s active, there’s still an enemy which hates America,” he said. “They hate America because of what we love – and we love freedom.”

Hours before Bush’s 3 p.m. entrance at Bangor International Airport’s Hanger 12, hundreds stood in line and braved a below-freezing wind chill to board buses that carried them to the event.

Bush actually arrived at BIA a little after 1 p.m. and spent some time with Republicans whose names will lead the ballot on Nov. 5. Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking a second six-year term in office; Peter Cianchette, the GOP candidate for governor; Kevin Raye, the party’s candidate for the state’s 2nd Congressional District; and Steve Joyce, who is challenging incumbent 1st District Congressman Tom Allen, all were mentioned by Bush and were seated behind the president on the stage. Sen. Olympia J. Snowe was also with the president and was recognized by Bush, along with Collins, for supporting the administration’s policies in general and the president’s tax relief initiative in particular.

Bush, who was introduced by Raye, said it was important for Mainers to send GOP candidates to Congress where Democrats already are trying to dismantle his tax policies. The president claimed those initiatives would put $5 billion into Maine residents’ pockets over the next 10 years. It would be money, he said, that Mainers could use to invigorate the economy anyway they choose.

“The problem is that some in Washington don’t see it that way, some people want the tax relief plan to go away,” Bush said. “It doesn’t make any sense, either you trust the government or you trust the people – we trust the people.”

The Republican message, Bush said, needed to be taken from BIA to all corners of Maine to increase votes for the party’s candidates and provide people in Congress “with whom I can work.”

“They’re counting on you to go to the coffee shops and community centers and talk it up,” he said. “And just don’t talk it up with Republicans. There’s a lot of Democrats who are wise enough to vote for these candidates and independents and people who don’t care. Turn them out to the polls. It’s an important election and we need these candidates to win.”

Bush reserved the largest segment of his 40-minute speech to discuss the country’s continuing effort to defeat terrorists at home and abroad. Emphasizing that oceans no longer protect America from its potential enemies in distant lands, Bush singled out Islamic terrorists as a danger that will continue to threaten Americans for the indefinite future.

“Unlike us, they don’t value life,” he said. “We face an enemy that has hijacked a great religion and are nothing but a bunch of cold-blooded killers – and therapy won’t work. The other day a guy named [Ramzi] Binalshibh popped his head up – you don’t have to worry about him. He was the man who wanted to be the 20th hijacker. He was lurking around Pakistan figuring out a way to hurt America again. And we found him and he’s now in custody. Slowly, but surely, we are dismantling the al-Qaida terrorist network and as we do so, we’re spreading freedom.”

Promising American troops would be “liberators” instead of conquerors in the country’s efforts to confront terrorism, Bush promised to send a message to friends and foes that the United States was committed for a long-term military deployment. He said America’s enemies had completely underestimated the country’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“They must have thought we were so materialistic and selfish and so self-absorbed that after Sept. 11 we’d file a lawsuit or two,” Bush said. “They didn’t understand – they just didn’t get it.”