Three al Qaeda strikes have been foiled in the United State since the September 11, 2001 attacks, President George W Bush said on Thursday and asserted America will not accept anything less than complete victory in the war against terrorism.
Bush also said, in a major speech before the National Endowment for Democracy, that radical terror groups were enemies of Islam and urged clerics to 'cleanse' their religion of the taint of terrorism.
"Some call the evil Islamic radicalism, others militant Jihadism, still others Islamic Fascism, but whatever it is called, this ideology is different from the religion of Islam; this form of radicalism exploits Islam," said Bush.
Stressing that the radicals are against Jews, Christians, Hindus and also Muslims of different traditions, Bush said their goal is 'a radical Islamic empire' that spans from Spain to Indonesia.
"United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious al Qaeda terrorist plots since September 11, including three al Qaeda plots to attack inside the US," he said.
"We've stopped at least five more al Qaeda efforts to case targets in the United States or infiltrate operatives into our country," Bush said without giving more details.
He made it clear that in the war against terror, the United States will 'never accept anything less than complete victory'.