On September 11, 2001, the United States was attacked by members of Al Qaeda, a stateless band of lethally dangerous, well-financed religious fanatics and terrorists.  We lost over 3,000 Americans on that day-one that will forever haunt us.

In order to defend against another attack, we had to apprehend these terrorist criminals and try them for their crimes. In October 2001, the United States attacked Al Qaeda and its supporters in Afghanistan.  This was essential to our national security.  I supported our military effort in Afghanistan against al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden-those who actually attacked our nation-at that time and I still do today.

Within weeks, American troops were able to subdue our enemies in Afghanistan. We forced Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants to retreat into the mountains near Tora Bora.  It seemed that we would strike a death blow against Al Qaeda..

At the same time, President Bush was planning a second war against Iraq-a country which had no connection to Al Qaeda.  The President said that there was evidence that Saddam Hussein was developing chemical, biological and nuclear weapons-Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD's).  He told us that it was essential to attack Iraq in order to prevent these weapons from falling into terrorist hands.

The US, in concert with our allies, should have been pursuing our attackers-where they were-with vigor and focus.  Instead, the President ordered the massive deployment of US troops to Iraq, a country that had not attacked us, and left a much smaller force on the ground in Afghanistan.  Bin Laden was able to disappear into the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan-and after seven years he is yet to be found.  Recent intelligence reports tell us that Al Qaeda has reorganized and that it is more active than ever.  Last summer, the National Counterterrorism Center released a report entitled "Al-Qaeda Better Positioned to Strike the West," which concluded that Al Qaeda had largely rebuilt itself.  Across Al Qaeda's safe haven in remote Pakistani tribal areas, terrorist training camps have multiplied, and estimates are that 2,000 or more militants now operate there.  Only three years ago, there were just a few hundred.

The President's strategy to fight terrorism has failed.  He allowed the top Al Qaeda leadership to escape from Afghanistan, he turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists, and he has allowed Al Qaeda to regain power worldwide.

Today, terrorism presents an even more serious threat to the United States than it did on September 11th. Al Qaeda, which is only one of many terrorist organizations, remains well-financed and well-organized. Its leaders continue to broadcast messages from its new base, and they are still determined to launch other large-scale strikes against our country.

To be successful in the fight against terrorism, we must create a much more coherent strategy.  I believe this means increasing our efforts in Afghanistan, ending the war in Iraq, and working with people and with nations who fully supported us after September 11th.

We must move past the President's single-minded focus on Iraq. We need to redeploy our forces from Iraq, and with our allies, refocus our efforts on the fight against these terrorist criminals in Afghanistan and neighboring countries.  I support shifting our resources to winning that struggle-which is just, necessary, and attainable. We need to engage the entire region-diplomatically, economically, politically, and, where necessary, militarily-to defeat the terrorists, eliminate their safe havens, and bring real stability to the broader Middle East.

But we will not win ultimately by using a "lone wolf" approach.  Back on Sept. 11, 2001, a stunned, sympathetic world was eager to help.  We can use our world leadership position to reach out diplomatically, to encourage the world to cooperate in hunting down and apprehending these terrorist criminals.