Within days of the September 11th attacks, President Bush marched to Capitol Hill and pinned responsibility on Al Qaeda and the Taliban regime. He called them murderers and vowed that the United States would retaliate.

And we did. Less than a month later, our armed forces began bombing targets in Kabul, and our ground forces started their search for Al Qaeda and its leader - Osama bin Laden. President Bush declared that our forces would "smoke them out of their holes" and would get bin Laden dead or alive.

The Administration did the right thing then by going after Al Qaeda. And I supported them fully. But today - more than two years after September 11th - they still haven't finished the job they started. They still haven't found the last Al Qaeda cell. They still haven't found Osama bin Laden. And every day, Americans live at risk because of this failure.

Instead of ferreting out Al Qaeda, the Administration has focused its energy and resources on Iraq. They've downplayed more serious threats in other parts of the world. In fact, it's been months since Mr. Bush has even mentioned Osama bin Laden. These days, the name we hear is Saddam Hussein, and the country we hear about is Iraq.

But diverting our attention won't make the problem go away. Al Qaeda and bin Laden are still at large. Iran and North Korea continue to develop nuclear programs more threatening than Iraq's.

The Bush Administration says that rooting out terrorism is going to be a "long, hard slog." I agree. Quashing terrorism is not easy. But if it's not done right, it's going to be many cold winters in New Hampshire before this threat is behind us.

The President said yesterday that we've "liberated" Iraq. But he hasn't liberated the world from the threat of Osama bin Laden.

The American people want to know: Where is Osama bin Laden?

It's high time President Bush gave us an answer. It's high time we finished what we started.

And I have a strategy to make that happen.

Today, I want to announce my three-pronged strategy to focus our energies on Osama Bin Laden and the leadership of Al Qaeda.

First, as president, I would press Saudi Arabia to join US forces in creating a US-Saudi commando force to work the Afghan-Pakistani border where bin Laden is thought to be hiding.

The Saudi regime is as responsible as anyone for the rise of Al Qaeda. And with the bombings in Saudi Arabia over the last months, they've see first-hand the destructive forces of the Al Qaeda network.

Al Qaeda doesn't discriminate. Their hatred doesn't respect the limits of nationality, geography, or religion. And now the Saudis are paying the price with innocent lives. It's time for them to take real action to destroy Al Qaeda from the top down. It's not enough for them to pursue terrorism within their own borders. They need to join us in the battle worldwide.

With Saudi help, we may finally get Pakistani authorities and Islamic leaders in the territories where bin Laden is believed to be hiding, to cooperate, and be part of the solution to this menace. Because of the religious ties between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the tribes on the Afghan-Pakistani border, the Saudis might be able to bring to bear a new capability. At the minimum we should try. This is not without precedent; the Saudis provided substantial forces to the coalition that ejected Saddam Hussein from Kuwait more than decade ago.

Second, we need to fully utilize the assets we already have on hand to hunt down bin Laden and destroy the Al Qaeda network. Too many of our intelligence specialists, linguists, and special operation personnel are investing too much time and energy in Iraq in a fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction - a task that could better be handled by international weapons inspectors. These inspectors are ready, willing, and able to perform this mission. By doing so, we could refocus American specialists on the destruction of Al Qaeda not only in Iraq but wherever the Al Qaeda leadership and its forces may be located. This is a clear case where getting help from the international community to share the burden in Iraq will free up crucial resources to allow us to better fight the most significant threat to our homeland.

Third, we need to repair our relationships with our allies and friends, and rely on international and regional institutions, like the United Nations and NATO. These institutions can provide vital support to American diplomacy, bringing in others to share the burdens and risks that we would otherwise carry alone.

With his unilateral march into Iraq, President Bush has scorned these institutions and many of our key allies, undermining the necessary cooperation to destroy Al Qaeda. Repairing these rifts would allow new possibilities for the United States to call on our allies to help us with this task. By working with them, we will be much more successful in our efforts to cut off funding for the Al Qaeda network.

International cooperation will also allow us to share the burden in Iraq, reinvigorate efforts to locate and destroy Al Qaeda leadership, and secure Afghanistan's borders. In the long run, these efforts will help secularize Afghanistan and create democratic institutions there.

Working together, we can get at some of the roots of terrorism: the extreme Wahhabist ideology and funding from Saudi Arabia; and the impoverished, class-ridden, corrupt society of Pakistan and its madrassas. Winning the war against terrorism also requires far-reaching reforms in the Middle East, including more pragmatic education, broader economic development, and wider political participation. It also means working toward a just and comprehensive settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.

There are a number of other steps that will be required for a broad based strategy to defeat Al Qaeda, including homeland security, better use of international institutions, and more focused use of our military resources. I will address these topics in the coming weeks.

As president, I will employ every weapon in the US arsenal to beat back the forces of terrorism. But the weapons of our country must not be limited to our awesome military capabilities. They must involve the web of international relationships we have built over generations. Those friendships are the reason that for most of its history, America has been the most admired nation in the world. We must do everything in our power to maintain that.

Thank you.