Posted by Mark Silva at 2:30 pm CST

The United States is at war with an enemy that will never shake the resolve of the American people, the U.S. is taking the fight to the enemy rather than facing the enemy at home, freedom is on the march and America’s vision of a free world will prevail.

The world also is a safer place now that Saddam Hussein is in prison, and American forces in Iraq will “stand down’’ as Iraqi security forces “stand up,’’ but the commitment of U.S. troops there will be determined by conditions on the ground, not politicians in Washington.

This is the state of the war against terrorism as President Bush defines it today – and today, in an address to the American Legion in Washington, D.C., the president distilled virtually every argument of the war that he has waged since the terrorist assaults of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war that he is determined to fight “so long as I’m the president of the United States.’’

Since the terrorist assaults on New York and the Pentagon in 2001, since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, and since the continuing struggle in Iraq and Afghanistan which has claimed more than 2200 American lives, Bush has delivered a series of defining principles that serve as the under-pinning of a policy that has drawn increasing opposition from the American public.

But today, in a refinement of all the president’s rhetoric on the war on terror, his speech-writers rolled out what amounts to the best hits of the president’s war on terror. The essence of his collected philosophy since 9/11 could be discerned in a series of remarks reeled out in his address today.

“We remain a nation at war,’’ said Bush, introduced at the American Legion as “the commander-in-chief at a time of war.’’ “The war reached our shores on September the 11th, 2001, when our nation awoke to a sudden attack. Like generations before us, we have accepted new responsibilities, and we will confront these dangers with firm resolve.

“The enemy we face is brutal and determined,’’ Bush said. “The terrorists have an ideology. They share a hateful vision that rejects tolerance and crushes all dissent. They seek a world where women are oppressed, where children are indoctrinated, and those who reject their ideology of violence and extremism are threatened and often murdered.

“They don't have the military strength to beat us. They can't beat us on the battlefield. They just cannot defeat the United States military. And so they're trying to break our will with stunning acts of violence,’’ Bush said. “The terrorists do not understand America. They're not going to shake our will. We will stay in the hunt, we will never give in, and we will prevail.

“The terrorists know that the only way they can defeat us is to break our will and force our retreat. And that's not going to happen so long as I'm the president of the United States.’’

When it comes to American relations with other nations, Bush said: “I've set a clear doctrine: America makes no distinction between the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. If you harbor a terrorist, you're just as guilty as the terrorists, and you're an enemy of the United States of America.

“One of the clear lessons of September the 11th is that the United States of America must confront threats before they fully materialize,’’ he said. “After September the 11th, I looked at the world and saw a clear threat in Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein was an enemy of the United States. He was firing at American military pilots patrolling the no-fly zones. He was a state sponsor of terror. He was in open defiance of more than a dozen United Nations resolutions. He had invaded his neighbors. He had brutalized his people. He had a history of using and producing weapons of mass destruction. Saddam defied the will of the world.

“And because we acted to remove this threat, Saddam Hussein is in prison, he's on trial for his crimes,’’ Bush said, “and the world is better for it.

“We're committed to an historic long-term goal: To secure the peace of the world, we seek the end of tyranny in our world,’’ said the president, reiterating the theme of his inaugural address after election to a second term. “Far from being a hopeless dream, the advance of freedom is the great story of our time. Just 25 years ago, at the start of the 1980s, there were only 45 democracies on the face of the Earth. Today, there are 122.

“Across the world freedom is on the march, and we will not rest until the promise of freedom reaches people everywhere across the globe,’’ he said.

As the recent surge of violence in Iraq has demonstrated: “As freedom spreads to new parts of the world, we're seeing something else, as well -- the uncertainty that often follows democratic change. Free elections are exhilarating events. Yet history teaches us that the path to a free society is long, and not always smooth.

“Iraq remains a serious situation,’’ Bush said. “But I'm optimistic, because the Iraqi people have spoken, and the Iraqi people made their intentions clear. In December, more than 11 million Iraqis sent a clear message to the world and to the terrorists, they want their freedom.’’

And as he has stated many times: “We're carrying out our clear strategy of victory in Iraq. On the political side, we're helping Iraqis build a strong democracy so old resentments will be eased and the insurgency marginalized. On the economic side, we're continuing reconstruction efforts and helping Iraqis build a modern economy so all Iraqi citizens can experience the benefits of freedom. And on the security side, we're striking terrorist targets, and at the same time, training Iraqis which are becoming increasingly capable of carrying the fight to the enemy.

“Our strategy in Iraq is, as the Iraqis stand up, we'll stand down,’’ Bush said. “Troop levels on the ground will be decided by commanders on the ground -- not by politicians in Washington, D.C.’’

“Freedom is on the march in the broader Middle East. The hope of liberty now reaches from Kabul to Baghdad, to Beirut, and beyond. Slowly but surely, we're helping to transform the broader Middle East from an arc of instability into an arc of freedom. And as freedom reaches more people in this vital region, we'll have new allies in the war on terror, and new partners in the cause of moderation in the Muslim world and in the cause of peace.

“We will stay on the offense,’’ the president said. “We will continue to hunt down the terrorists, wherever they hide.’’