Remarks by President George W. Bush at "Building Afghanistan's Future"

One reason why I’m such an advocate for women is that I’ve always been surrounded by strong women. Raised by one, married one, and fathered two.

Welcome to SMU. Gerald, thank you for being here. Gerald Turner is the president of SMU. I welcome professors and students from SMU. The Bush Center is proud to be associated with this fine university, and I’m proud to be associated with the freedom movement in Afghanistan.

I remember 9/11 almost like it was yesterday. I remember my vow to do everything to protect the country. I also remember saying to the world: if you harbor a terrorist, you’re just as guilty as the terrorists who came and murdered 3,000 people on our soil.

Part of securing the country was to honor those words and liberate Afghanistan. After all, Afghanistan was the safe haven for al Qaeda. We gave the Taliban—the brutal oppressors of all people, particularly women—a chance to change their ways. They said no. And as a result, our country and a vast coalition of nations did what we said we were going to do.

And then the fundamental question came: what next, after the country was liberated from the Taliban, the easy course of action would have been to say, “Let’s go home. Let’s just hope for the best. Let’s just assume positive things will happen. Let’s abandon Afghanistan again,” like the free world had done.

But we chose a different path. And the reason why is because my administration realized we are involved in an ideological struggle — against a few who have such a dim view of the world that they murder the innocent to advance their philosophy, versus a lot who believe that freedom yields the peace; that freedom is universal; that freedom exists in the soul of every man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth.

Our administration — many of whom are here — looked at history and recognized that freedom’s advance laid the foundation for peace. But we also recognized that there is patience that comes with helping freedom advance. And after all, our own country enslaved people for a hundred years. Our democracy was imperfect, and yet we continue to make it more perfect over time.

Laura and I strongly believe that freedom’s advance will make our children and grandchildren's opportunity to live in a peaceful world more likely. And we strongly believe that women are going to lead the freedom movement in parts of the world that many around the world say can’t possibly live in a free society.

And so our continuing efforts with Afghan women are a significant part of the Bush Center, which is advancing freedom for the sake of peace.

I am impressed by the courage of the women of Afghanistan. It’s important for our fellow citizens to recognize that a decade ago — which isn’t all that long a period of time — women were brutally oppressed. Young girls couldn’t go to school. Women were locked in their homes. If any woman expressed her point of view in the public square, that was unacceptable to the Taliban: they were brutalized — sometimes in soccer stadiums.

One of the questions we must ask ourselves as Americans is: does it matter? Does it matter if that society returns to brutality?

We at the Bush Center, we not only believe freedom is universal; we believe every life has dignity. Every person is important — whether it be an American or a Muslim woman in Afghanistan. And so to this end, we’re going to do our very best to be enablers and mentors and to encourage and support the women of Afghanistan.

This conference today will show support for freedom by promoting women, and it will raise awareness of the benefits of economic activity in places like Afghanistan—particularly those businesses run by women.

I want to thank our American women who are here today for your willingness to mentor, and to share ideas, and to pour your energy into helping people who need help. And I want to thank the Afghan women for being so courageous. I am confident you’ll be inspired by the stories you hear and by the willingness for people to take risks.

One of the fundamental choices we face in America right now to decide whether we are too weary and too tired to continue helping the women of Afghanistan. Laura and I believe that if we were to say, “It’s too hard,” there would be unspeakable suffering. And we don’t want to live with that—and neither should the United States of America.

Today, I’m fortunate to be able to introduce two people, or three people, for that matter. One is Bob Zoellick, who served in my administration, in my cabinet, and then as deputy secretary of state, and who now runs the World Bank. When he walked into the room, I told some Afghan women, “If you want money, he’s got plenty.”

And the other person who will be introducing our special guest is Stephen Hadley, who worked in my administration for eight years—that’s a long time—and he was national security adviser for four of those years. In other words, he had to live with me every day. He and Laura. Both of whom deserve the Medal of Freedom for having done so.

Stephen is an awesome person who serves our country still by promoting freedom as the alternative to the ideology of the killers. I’m also pleased that Zal is here. I won’t name everybody in my administration who’s here, but Zal is someone I worked closely with as ambassador to Afghanistan and then Iraq. And I was so pleased that at the end of my administration, that his wife would still speak to me.

Steve is going to interview President Karzai, who will be visiting with us via video. President Karzai and I—here he is—President, I was about to say something positive about you.

People say, “Well, you had a tough job as president,” and my answer is: not nearly as tough as President Karzai’s job. Afghanistan has made enormous progress under his leadership. And if you just look at the statistics, it’s undeniable that Afghanistan is better than it was in 2001.

But there's still problems. But Afghanistan is fortunate to have a man who has been able to guide this country from a barbaric rule to one in which more and more people are free.

I will never forget our meetings together, both in Washington and in Afghanistan. And one of the highlights with my friend the president was when he described what it was like to become a father.

So, Mr. President, we welcome you via video to Dallas, Texas. I look forward to hearing how the little man is doing. In the meantime, I’m going to call up our mutual friend Steve Hadley, who is going to ask you some questions.

Laura and I are grateful you’re with us via video, and I look forward to giving you a hug in person one of these days.