http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-inaug21jan21.story THE INAUGURATION OF GEORGE W. BUSH
Bush Doctrine: Spread Liberty
At 2nd Inauguration, the President Pledges to End 'Tyranny in Our World'
By Peter Wallsten and Edwin Chen
Times Staff Writers
January 21, 2005
WASHINGTON — George Walker Bush, taking the oath of office and opening his second term as president, vowed in a sweeping declaration Thursday that the United States would promote democratic movements "in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world."
With thousands of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and public opinion polarized over the policies that put them there, Bush offered few hints about whether his doctrine would mean military action against other countries. But directing his remarks to the "rulers of outlaw regimes," the president suggested that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were only the start of a global strategy to spread freedom.
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While criticisms of the president's speech were muted, the prospect of taking a more aggressive stance in foreign policy was likely to spark controversy, even among some Republicans wary of the rising toll of dead and wounded U.S. soldiers and the mounting costs of war.
Bush did not directly address the bloody realities of war. But he said that, in the end, the costs were worth it.
"Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon," Bush said. "Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom.
"By our efforts, we have lit a fire, as well — a fire in the minds of men," he said. "It warms those who feel its power. It burns those who fight its progress. And one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world."
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