Sacrifice”in 21^st Century Political Rhetoric:

a) New York Times (10/21/01): “Mr. Bush said that he mourned the loss of two servicemen killed in a Black Hawk helicopter accident related to the mission. ‘There will be moments of sacrifice,’ the president said today just before a meeting with the Japanese prime minister. ‘We've seen two such examples today’.

b) “We are ready to sacrifice our lives. This is the beginning. ... We are willing to be martyrs.” Translation of Urdu letters found on the bodies of two Muslim men who attacked a Hindu temple in Gandhinagar, Gujarat state, India, killing 37 people before police killed them. NY Times September 26, 2002.

c) President Saddam Hussein of Iraq: “God has cherished his good people and we will keep our promise before God and humanity and let God witness from his chair, as well as the faithful on Earth, that we will sacrifice whatever is expensive and dear to get His satisfaction and to support His soldiers. We will carry out jihad depending on Him so that He will humiliate the aggressors and the recklessly despicable, to fragment their efforts and return their evil to their bodies and we, with God's soldiers on our earth, are capable to do so after depending on God and preparing what is needed for it. ... I especially name the 11th Infantry Division and its brave and mujahedeen men, the men of Qadissiya and the mother of all battles whose attitude was distinguished with sacrifice that deserved to be proud of by any Iraqi. In the 11th Division, I mainly mention Brigade 45 that raised the banner of jihad and the name of Iraq high in the fierce battle of Umm Qasr, together with those who were attached to it from the navy” (NY Times 3/24/03, text of President Saddam Hussein's speech on the war in Iraq broadcast Monday on state-run Iraqi Television. The Arabic broadcast was translated by The Associated Press; from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/international/worldspecial/25SADD-TEXT.html?pagewanted=2&tntemail0).

d) U.S. President George Bush, State of the Union Address, January 29, 2003: “America is a strong nation, and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.”

e) U.S. President George Bush, Address to the Nation, March 17, 2003: “Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war. And every measure will be taken to win it. Americans understand the cost of conflict because we have paid them in the past. War has no certainty except the certainty of sacrifice. Yet the only way to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the full force and might of our military. And we are prepared to do so.”

f) Attributed to Saddam Hussein: “In a statement attributed to Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader called today for a holy war, or jihad, against the American-led invasion of Iraq. "They are cursed, they are evil," said the statement, which was read by the information minister on national television. "You will be victorious and they will be defeated. Hit them, fight them!" ... Mr. al-Sahhaf, continuing to read from the statement, which was delivered in Arabic and translated into English, said: "The aggression that the aggressors are carrying out against the stronghold of faith is an aggression on the religion, the wealth, the honor and the soul and an aggression on the land of Islam. "Therefore jihad is a duty and whoever dies will be rewarded by heaven," he went on. "And God will be satisfied with their sacrifice. Take your chance. This is what God requested from you." "Long live our nation! Long live Palestine! Long live Iraq!" the statement continued. "Let's go and do jihad."” (NY Times, 4/1/2003, at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/01/international/middleeast/01CND-SADDAM.html?tntemail0

g) President George Bush (Veterans’ Day Speech, November 11, 2005; from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/11/AR2005111100987.html): “With the rise of a deadly enemy and the unfolding of a global ideological struggle, our time in history will be remembered for new challenges and unprecedented dangers. And yet this fight we have joined is also the current expression of an ancient struggle between those who put their faith in dictators and those who put their faith in the people. Throughout history, tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that murder is justified to serve their grand vision. And they end up alienating decent people across the globe. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that regimented societies are strong and pure, until those societies collapse in corruption and decay. Tyrants and would-be tyrants have always claimed that free men and women are weak and decadent, until the day that free men and women defeat them. We don't know the course our own struggle will take or the sacrifices that might lie ahead. We do know, however, that the defense of freedom is worth our sacrifice. We do know the love of freedom is the mightiest force of history. And we do know the cause of freedom will once again prevail.”