The fire department is a marvelous organization in the modern world.It"s more like a medieval army，where instead of sitting behind and issuing orders，the leaders lead.And so in our fire department，we lost the chief，his three top aides，the chaplain and over 200other officers-out of three hundred and forty killed.No one took a backseat when it came to sacrifice.I think those who believed that this would weaken US have misjudged us.All over America，there has been a tremendous outpouring of caring-over six hundred million dollars pledged.I thank the workers and the people at Yale for the work you did，for those who lost loved ones or feared they had.We are going to be all right.
Still，we must realize that we have a formidable adversary and a difficult challenge.Partly，because in every conf lict throughout human history，defense lags offense by a little bit.This has always happened.But so far，the human race is still around because self-preservation and decency catches up and triumphs.Nevertheless，I think we have to take this seriously and see it for exactly what it is-I believe we are engaged in the first great straggle for the soul of the twenty first century.We must understand terrorism in the modem world and ask ourselves what we have to do，not only to prevent terrorism andprotect ourselves，but to undermine the conditions and attitudes that bring to theterrorists"banners their foot soldiers and sympathizers.
If I had asked you on September the tenth the following question，what would your answer be？What is the dominant trait of the world in the early twenty-first century？If you are an optimistic person，itseems to me you might have given one of four answers.You might have said，"Well，it"s the globalization of the economy and culture that has lifted more people out of poverty in the last twenty years than any time in all history and brought America unprecedented opportunity."Or you might have said，if you are a "techie，""It is the information technology revolution."When I became president in January of 1993，there were fifty sites on the World Wide Web.When I left office，there were three hundred and fifty million.There was never anything like it in the history of communications.
Or you might have said，if you were a scientist，"It"s the evolution in the sciences."We"re going to find out what"s in the black holes in the universe.Last year，we found two new species of life，in previously unexplored river bottoms.The human genome has been sequenced and soon women will bring home babies from the hospital with little gene cards saying，"Here are the kid"s problems and the kid"s strengths."Soon babies born in America or any country with a good health system will have a life expectancy in excess of ninety years.We have scientists working on digital chips to replicate the nerve functions of damaged spinal cords，raising the prospect that a chip might do for a spine like what a pacemaker does for the heart，and people thought to be permanently paralyzed might get up and walk.And all of this is truly amazing.
Or if you are a politicalscientist，you might say the dominant force of this period is the explosion of democracy around the world and diversity at home.Forthe first time in human history，more than half the world lives under governments of their own choosing，and in our country and others with strong economies，there is an explosion of diversity.
A mer ica is a lot more interesting place than it was 30years ago.If we hadhad this meeting thirty years ago，you wouldn"t look like you do.It"s a lot more fun to be here，more educational，and more exciting because of that.
It seems to me if you are optimistic，on September tenth，when I said "what is the dominant strength of the twenty-first century world，"you could have given one of those four answers：the global economy，the explosion of democracy and diversity around the world，the information technology explosion，the scientific revolution.
On the other hand，if you are a little more pessimistic，or if you are what Hillary refers to as your family"s，"designated worrier"，you might have mentioned four negative things.First，climate change.Nine of the hottest years ever recorded occurred in the last 12.If the climate warms at the same rate in the next fifty years as it has in the last ten，we will lose several Pacific island nations，the Florida everglades，and fifty feet of Manhattan Island.Agriculture will be disrupted all over the world，creating millions of food refugees.There is a terrible water shortage in the world already.One in four people on the globe never get a clean glass of water.There is a serious deterioration in the quality of our oceans，which provide so much of our oxygen.If we don"t reverse these trends we will have terrible problems.
Or you could say，"No，no，before t hat happens，we w il l be eng u l fed by health crises.This year one in four peoplein the world will die of AIDS，TB，malaria or infections related to malaria.Thirty-six million people have AIDS.The fastest growing rates are in the Former Soviet Union，on Europe"s back door，and in the Caribbean，on our front door.At present trends，we will have a hundred millionAIDS cases by 2005.That is a recipe for turmoil and violence.