Scott McClellan is holding his daily White House press briefing and VP Dick Cheney is speaking at the Manhattan Institute.

McClellan:

The president is fully committed to doing everything within his power to prevent attacks and defeat the terrorists. We are taking the fight to enemy and now we are working to advance freedom and democracy to defeat their evil ideology. And we are winning. Clearly al Qaeda and the terrorists are on the run. And that is why it is important that we do not let up, that we do not stop until the job is done. And this is what we will do.

Cheney:

We have faced and we are facing today enemies who hate us, who hate our country, who hate the liberties for which we stand. They dwell in the shadows, wear no uniform, have no regard for the laws of warfare, and feel unconstrained by any standard of morality. We’ve never had a fight like this. And those of us in positions of responsibility have a duty to wage a broad-scale effort for the sake of this nation’s safety and security.

Cheney calls for renewal of the Patriot Act and defends the NSA program:

Another absolutely vital requirement in the War on Terror is that we use whatever means are appropriate to try to find out the intentions of the enemy. To this end, in the days following 9/11, the President authorized the National Security Agency to intercept a certain category of terrorist-linked international communications.

Let me emphasize that, because you frequently hear this called a “domestic surveillance program.” It is not. We are talking about international communications, one end of which we have reason to believe is related to al Qaeda or to terrorist networks affilated with al Qaeda. It’s hard to think of any category of information that could be more important to the safety of the United States than international communications, one end of which we have reason to believe is related to al Qaeda…this program is critical to the national security of the United States.

More Cheney:

It seems more than obvious to say that our nation is still at risk of attack. Yet, as we get farther away from September 11, some in Washington are yielding to the temptation to downplay the threat, to back away from the business at hand. That mindset may be comforting, but it is dangerous. We’re all grateful that this country has gone for more than four years without another 9/11. Obviously, no one can guarantee that we won’t be hit again. But our nation has been protected by more than luck.

It is no accident that we haven’t been hit in more than four years.

We’ve been protected by sensible policy decisions, decisive action at home and abroad, and around-the-clock efforts on the part of people in the armed services, law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security.

The enemy that struck on 9/11 is weakened and fractured, yet, still lethal, still determined to hit us again.

Either we are serious about fighting this War on Terror or we are not. And our enemies of America need to know we are serious, and this administration will not let down our guard.

There’s no rest for the vigilant.

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There’s no rest for the defeatists, either. Don’t miss Tigerhawk’s round-up.

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