Bush Warns Of Enduring Terror Threat

"What is missing from the . . . public discussion of all of this is some explanation of the phenomenon of radicalized Islam," said Daniel Benjamin, a senior fellow at CSIS and former Clinton administration official. "Why are there so many people out there who want to kill Americans and so many Westerners? Why is this such a durable phenomenon?"

As Bush spoke in Washington, Pakistan signed a peace accord with pro-Taliban forces in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, agreeing to withdraw its troops from the region in return for the fighters' pledge to stop attacks inside Pakistan. The pact prompted concern that it could allow Islamic extremist groups to operate more freely in the area.

The president's speech was the latest in a series of addresses aimed at buttressing flagging public support for the war as the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks draws near. Today, Bush is expected to give an address at the White House, in which he will discuss his administration's latest proposal for trying suspected members of al-Qaeda who are being held at the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In June, the Supreme Court struck down the military commissions Bush established to try suspected terrorists. Tomorrow, he is scheduled to again address the subject of terrorism during a visit to Atlanta.

In his speech at the Capital Hilton in Washington, Bush said the threat posed by al-Qaeda and other Sunni Muslim "extremists" is no different from that posed by Shiite Muslim "extremists," who he said include the leaders of Iran and the group Hezbollah. He quoted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as having said that if the United States wants to have good relations with Iran, it must "bow down before the greatness of the Iranian nation and surrender. If you don't accept to do this, the Iranian nation will force you to surrender and bow down."

"America will not bow down to tyrants," Bush added to loud applause from the audience.

In their rebuttals, some Democrats renewed their call for the firing of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. White House press secretary Tony Snow said Bush flatly rejects those calls.

Some Democrats said the reason al-Qaeda remains so dangerous is that the United States is bogged down in Iraq.

"If President Bush had unleashed the American military to do the job at Tora Bora four years ago and killed Osama bin Laden, he wouldn't have to quote this barbarian's words today," said Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.), the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee. "Because President Bush lost focus on the killers who attacked us and instead launched a disastrous war in Iraq, today Osama bin Laden and his henchmen still find sanctuary in the no man's land between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where they still plot attacks against America."