The New York Times-20080129-In Their Own Words- -Text 1-

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In Their Own Words; [Text 1]

Full Text (246  words)

At a rally on Monday at an airplane hangar in Orlando, Fla.:

Now I want to say to you, look, why am I running for president? I'm running for president because I believe the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is radical Islamic extremism. My friends, we've seen its ugly face. We saw its ugly face on Sept. 11. ... This is the face of transcendent evil.

This is the major national security challenge that this nation faces, and I'm prepared to lead. I have the knowledge, the background and the judgment to lead this country against this evil.

My friends, we will never surrender. We will never surrender. They will surrender.

In Iraq, we are succeeding. Particularly back in 2007 when things were at their worst there were a few of us who stood up and said Rumsfeld's strategy is failing. ...

If you forget everything I've said to you today, remember this: Al Qaeda is on the run. Al Qaeda is not defeated. We have a long way to go.

And the only person who can set a date for withdrawal from Iraq is Gen. David Petraeus, one of the great generals and leaders this nation has ever been blessed with.

Not by some candidate. Not by Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, who want to wave the white flag and surrender so that then Al Qaeda could tell the world they defeated the United States of America.

I will never let that

happen.