End of Tyranny & the Advance of Freedom.
Abroad, our nation is committed to an historic, long-term goal: We seek the end of tyranny in our world.
Some dismiss that goal as misguided idealism. In reality, the future security of America depends on it.
On September the 11th, 2001, we found that problems originating in a failed and oppressive state 7,000 miles away could bring murder and destruction to our country.
Dictatorships shelter terrorists, and feed resentment and radicalism, and seek weapons of mass destruction.
Democracies replace resentment with hope, respect the rights of their citizens and their neighbors, and join the fight against terror.
Every step toward freedom in the world makes our country safer, and so we will act boldly in freedom's cause.
(APPLAUSE)
Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time.
In 1945, there were about two dozen lonely democracies in the world. Today there are 122.
And we are writing a new chapter in the story of self-government, with women lining up to vote in Afghanistan, and millions of Iraqis marking their liberty with purple ink, and men and women from Lebanon to Egypt debating the rights of individuals and the necessity of freedom.
BUSH: At the start of 2006, more than half the people of our world live in democratic nations. And we do not forget the other half -- in places like Syria and Burma, Zimbabwe, North Korea and Iran -- because the demands of justice and the peace of this world require their freedom as well.
(APPLAUSE)
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