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Cheney to Special Ops Forces: 'We Have a Long War Ahead of Us'
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Vice President Dick Cheney on Friday lauded and thanked international special operations soldiers for their roles in the war on terror, but warned them that it is far from over."We have a long war ahead of us, and our enemies are waiting for us to let our guard down," Cheney said, speaking to more than 300 people at the closing of the International Special Operations Forces Week conference. "But we will not relent in this effort because we have the clearest possible understanding of what is at stake." Cheney also visited MacDill Air Force Base for a medals ceremony at the U.S. Special Operations Command, which oversees the nation's elite military units, including Navy SEALs, the Air Force Special Operations Command and the Army Rangers and Green Berets. His speech at the conference culminated a week that brought together U.S. special operations leaders and their counterparts from 59 countries. The event also included businesses and civilian defense contractors to talk about weapons systems specially created for special operations forces. Cheney said American Special Operations soldiers - "silent professionals," he called them - were "the first boots on the ground" when the war on terror began in Afghanistan nearly four years ago and played a key role in bringing down Saddam Hussein in Iraq. "Once again, the contributions of Special Ops were critical in the swift downfall of a regime, and a strutting dictator went from a palace to a bunker to a spider hole to a prison cell," Cheney said. "At every stage of this conflict, we have looked to the Special Operations forces to carry out the most perilous, the most technical, the most time-sensitive and least visible missions," he said. "When you have enemies that are hidden, secret in their movements ... the only alternative is to find out exactly where they are and go in and get them." Cheney warned that the biggest danger to our civilization is that some terror group, perhaps in concert with an outlaw government, will get hold of weapons of mass destruction. Preventing that, he said, must be a primary goal in the war on terror. "In the face of such danger, free nations must move decisively to defend ourselves against attack, yet we also understand that this war cannot be won on the defensive," he said. "In this new era, all civilized nations have a duty - we must defeat the terrorists and we must not allow them to obtain weapons of mass murder. "None of us wants to turn over the future of mankind to tiny groups of fanatics committing indiscriminate murder and plotting large scale war. So we must direct every resource necessary to defend the peace and freedom of our world and the safety of the people we serve." At MacDill, Cheney presented the Distinguished Flying Cross to U.S. Air Force Maj. Matthew R. Glover and Army Chief Warrant Officer David B. Smith. Army Master Sgt. Donald R. Hollenbaugh received the Distinguished Service Cross; Army U.S. Army Sgt. 2nd Class Stephan Johns was awarded the Silver Star; and Navy Chief Boatswains Mate Donald B. Stokes was awarded a Bronze Star. Posted by: too true 2005-06-11 |
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