Bush Speech: Second-term goal is fight for freedom everywhere

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush sought in his second inaugural speech to define his new term as a fight for freedom in every nation with the "ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." At home, he urged a divided nation to find the unity it had felt after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Looking ahead to history's judgment, Bush asked two questions in his speech Thursday from the Capitol steps: "Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?"

"Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government," he said. "Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our nation."

But more is needed now, both to protect America and to advance its ideals, he said.

"It is the honorable achievement of our fathers," Bush said. "Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time."

Yet seeking to soften an image sometimes seen as aggressive around the world, Bush said America does not want to impose "our own style of government on the unwilling." And while he led the nation into wars in Afghanistan and Iraq during his first term, he said that spreading freedom is not "primarily the task of arms."

"Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way," he said.

He never mentioned Iraq or Afghanistan in the speech. He used the word "freedom" 27 times.

War and the deaths of American troops have led to divisions at home as well as abroad, and Bush recognized the splits.

"We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes and I will strive in good faith to heal them," Bush said, adding that he did not believe the separations defined the nation.

He recalled the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks when Americans from all walks of life and political ideologies united and "our response came like a single hand over a single heart."

Bush also talked about extending freedom at home by building what he has dubbed an "ownership society" where people, not government, have more control and say over their own lives. That's the philosophy driving Bush's desire to let workers put more of their earnings in private retirement accounts, perhaps the most contentious second-term goal that already has powerful opponents working against it on Capitol Hill.

"We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society," Bush said. "By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear and make our society more prosperous and just and equal."

In his second inaugural message, a speech distilled from 22 drafts, Bush spoke first to the world and then to his fellow citizens.

He never mentioned the war that dominated his first term and caused friction with other nations, yet he sought to reassure U.S. allies that America did not want to stand alone in the fight for freedom.

"All the allies of the United States can know: We honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help," Bush said. "Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies."

To Americans at home, Bush said the fabric of the nation was made up of many races and cultures.

"Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth," he said. "And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time."