There is no single simple policy which meets this challenge. And we do not intend to leave an open road for despotism. This nation was born of revolution and raised in freedom. We stand, as we have always stood from our earliest beginnings, for the independence and equality of all nations. And in that contest, we cannot stand aside. It is a contest of will and purpose as well as force and violence-a battle for minds and souls as well as lives and territory. With these formidable weapons, the adversaries of freedom plan to consolidate their territory-to exploit, to control, and finally to destroy the hopes of the world's newest nations and they have ambition to do it before the end of this decade. They prey on unstable or unpopular governments, unsealed, or unknown boundaries, unfilled hopes, convulsive change, massive poverty, illiteracy, unrest and frustration.] They make the most of their scientific successes, their economic progress and their pose as a foe of colonialism and friend of popular revolution. They possess a powerful intercontinental striking force, large forces for conventional war, a well-trained underground in nearly every country, the power to conscript talent and manpower for any purpose, the capacity for quick decisions, a closed society without dissent or free information, and long experience in the techniques of violence and subversion. [At this point the following paragraph, which appears in the text as signed and transmitted to the Senate and House of Representatives, was omitted in the reading of the message: But where fighting is required, it is usually done by others-by guerrillas striking at night, by assassins striking alone-assassins who have taken the lives of four thousand civil officers in the last twelve months in Vietnam alone-by subversives and saboteurs and insurrectionists, who in some cases control whole areas inside of independent nations. They send arms, agitators, aid, technicians and propaganda to every troubled area. They have fired no missiles and their troops are seldom seen. Yet their aggression is more often concealed than open. But they are seeking to ride the crest of its wave-to capture it for themselves. More than an end, they seek a beginning.Īnd theirs is a revolution which we would support regardless of the Cold War, and regardless of which political or economic route they should choose to freedom.įor the adversaries of freedom did not create the revolution nor did they create the conditions which compel it. ![]() They seek an end to injustice, tyranny, and exploitation. Their revolution is the greatest in human history. The great battleground for the defense and expansion of freedom today is the whole southern half of the globe-Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East-the lands of the rising peoples. I am here to promote the freedom doctrine. Nor am I here to present a new military doctrine, bearing any one name or aimed at any one area. We are not against any man-or any nation-or any system-except as it is hostile to freedom. No friend, no neutral and no adversary should think otherwise. That is our conviction for ourselves-that is our only commitment to others. No role in history could be more difficult or more important. Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed upon this nation the role of leader in freedom's cause. The Constitution imposes upon me the obligation to "from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union." While this has traditionally been interpreted as an annual affair, this tradition has been broken in extraordinary times. Vice President, my co-partners in Government, gentlemen and ladies: ![]() View related documents.ĭelivered in person before a joint session of Congress
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