By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Fulton, MO – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says a "weary complacency" is threatening America.
The comment was part of an address Wednesday at Westminster College in Fulton, where Winston Churchill made his "Iron Curtain" speech more than 60 years ago.
"In recent months, we've been treated to a chorus of critics and skeptics, who have begun to downplay the seriousness of the threat that we face...some admit that we're at war, but they believe that we can simply unilaterally withdraw from the engagement...we can simply walk away from the field of battle," Chertoff said.
Chertoff mentioned Churchill often in his speech to hundreds of students and staff inside the packed auditorium.
He said if the former British prime minister were alive today, he would condemn Iran and Al Qaeda as strongly as he condemned Hitler and Stalin.
"I believe if Churchill were standing here today, he would instruct us that we have to maintain the will and resolve to resist our enemies," Chertoff said.
He received a standing ovation from the audience at the end of his speech.
During a question and answer segment, a few students criticized him and President Bush while asking questions about U.S. policy in the Middle East.
There were no disruptions or jeers, however.
During the speech, about 25 students and professors affiliated with Amnesty International staged a peaceful protest outdoors.
They called on the U.S. government to shut down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.