- WEST POINT, New York
(Reuters) -- The United States' declared war on terror is closer to the
beginning than the end, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told graduates
of the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday.
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- Rumsfeld told the 2004 graduating class of 935 cadets
that in the three years since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, the
U.S.-led coalition had "overthrown two vicious regimes and liberated
50 million people, disrupted terrorist cells across the globe and thwarted
many terrorist attacks."
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- "Yet despite our successes, we are closer to the
beginning of this struggle with global insurgency than to its end,"
he said.
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- Rumsfeld addressed the graduates, who wore full dress
uniforms at West Point's Michie Stadium football field, before heading
back for Washington for the dedication of the World War II Memorial.
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- Rumsfeld said the world "has changed dramatically"
since the Sept. 11 attacks when hijackers flew commercial airplanes into
buildings in New York and Washington, killing nearly 3,000.
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- He said on the latest front, in Iraq where the Bush administration
is facing continued fighting that is undermining efforts to end the U.S.
occupation, "We are facing a test of wills, with an enemy that seeks
to derail the Iraqi people's path to self-governance."
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- "The extremists know the rise of a free, self-governing
Iraq, respectful of all religions - would deal the terrorists a decisive
blow," Rumsfeld said. "Its success depends on encouraging friends
and allies with whom we are so interdependent to not be terrorized by threats
or isolated by fear."
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