A VP Address

Vice President Cheney gave the Commencement Address at the United States Naval Academy on Friday.

You can read his words of wisdom here.

Here is an excerpt:

In a world that depends on American sea power to swiftly deliver humanitarian aid and disaster relief, to secure the sea lanes, and to carry out combat operations, we'll be counting on all of you. And you are well prepared for the tasks ahead. We know where the aviators are headed -- you'll be on fixed wing or helicopter assignments. We know where the Marines will be -- in the air, on the ground, or in support of combat operations. And we know where the surface officers will be -- on an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, or perhaps serving as diplomats in places around the globe, such as Japan or Bahrain. Special forces: you'll be at the tip of the spear, worldwide. And submariners: we don't know where you'll be -- (laughter) --but we're glad you're there -- (laughter) -- as part of our strategic forces. (Applause.)

To any place that duty takes you -- whether on the bridge of a ship or at the controls of a jet or a submarine -- you will arrive with the knowledge and the tools to excel. At the Naval Academy you've been tested -- morally, mentally, and physically. You have shown yourselves to be men and women of agility, endurance, and, above all, honor. And each one of you is a superb addition to the quality force that America has continued to build over these past five years.

You are the first class to enter the Academy following the attacks of 9/11. And I'm guessing that more than a few of you were inspired to military service by that attack on our country. In these four years, the war on terror has influenced the course of study at our service academies, and it will define much of your career leading American sailors and Marines.

To prevail in this fight, we must understand the nature of the enemy that threatens America and the civilized world. It is as brutal and heartless as any we have ever faced. This enemy wears no uniform, has no regard for the rules of warfare, and is unconstrained by any standard of decency or morality. They plot and plan in secret, target the defenseless, and rejoice at the death of innocent, unsuspecting human beings.

This enemy has a set of beliefs -- and we saw the expression of those beliefs in the rule of the Taliban. They seek to impose a dictatorship of fear, under which every man, woman, and child lives in total obedience to a narrow and hateful ideology. This ideology rejects tolerance, denies freedom of conscience, and demands that women be pushed to the margins of society. Such beliefs can be imposed only through force and intimidation, so those who refuse to bow to the tyrants will be brutalized or killed -- and no person or group is exempt.

This enemy also has a clear set of objectives. The terrorists want to end all American and Western influence in the Middle East. Their goal in that region is to seize control of a country, so they have a base from which to launch attacks and wage war against governments that do not meet their demands. The terrorists believe that by controlling one country, they will be able to target and overthrow other governments in the region, ultimately to establish a totalitarian empire that encompasses a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way to Indonesia. They have made clear, as well, their ultimate ambitions: to arm themselves with chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons; to destroy Israel; to intimidate all Western countries; and to cause mass death here in the United States. Some might look at these ambitions and wave them off as extreme and mad. Well, these ambitions are extreme and mad. They are also real, and we must not wave them off. We must take them seriously. We must oppose them. And we must defeat them. (Applause.)

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