( dpa ) - President George W Bush said Monday that the United States will continue to remain on the offensive in the war on terrorism during his last year in office, and will not allow extremists to block the spread of liberty and democracy.
"We have taken the fight to these terrorists and extremists," Bush said in his final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. "We will stay on the offence, we will keep up the pressure, and we will deliver justice to the enemies of America."
Bush said that terrorists have sought to derail democratic growth in Lebanon and Pakistan by targeting leaders and prominent figures in those countries, including the December assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto ahead of scheduled elections.
"In the long run, men and women who are free to determine their own destinies will reject terror and refuse to live in tyranny," Bush said. "That is why the terrorists are fighting to deny this choice to people in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Palestinian territories."