Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ten Years Ago Today, President Bush Announced Strikes On Afghanistan

<p>Oct. 7, 2001: President George W. Bush poses for a photo in the Treaty Room of the White House after announcing airstrikes on on Afghanistan.</p>
Hillery Smith Garrison
/
AP

Oct. 7, 2001: President George W. Bush poses for a photo in the Treaty Room of the White House after announcing airstrikes on on Afghanistan.

At 1 p.m. ET on Oct. 7, 2001, President George W. Bush announced to the nation that "on my orders, the United States military has begun strikes against al-Qaida terrorist training camps and military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan."

And in what could be seen in retrospect as a hint of what was to come later with the war in Iraq, the president said that "today we focus on Afghanistan, but the battle is broader. Every nation has a choice to make. In this conflict, there is no neutral ground. If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers, themselves. And they will take that lonely path at their own peril."

He finished by saying "the battle is now joined on many fronts. We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter; and we will not fail. Peace and freedom will prevail."

The full text of his address (as transcribed by the White House) is in the box below. Just click on the title "President George W. Bush; Oct. 7, 2001" to have the copy pop up in a larger box.

(H/T to CBS News' Mark Knoller.)

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.