Bush Describes "Urgent Duty" to Confront Saddam Hussein

(President speaks to nation as Congress undertakes debate) (3760)





Facing clear evidence that Iraq maintains weapons of mass destruction,


and is developing nuclear weapons, the United States cannot wait for


the final proof before acting to protect itself, President Bush said


in an address to the nation October 7.





"[W]e have every reason to assume the worst, and we have an urgent


duty to prevent the worst from occurring," Bush said.





Speaking as the U.S. Congress undertakes a debate on a resolution


authorizing U.S. military action if necessary to enforce United


Nations Security Council demands on Iraq, Bush said approval of the


draft congressional resolution backed by the White House "does not


mean that military action is imminent or unavoidable. The resolution


will tell the United Nations, and all nations, that America speaks


with one voice and is determined to make the demands of the civilized


world mean something."





Bush said he hopes that enforcement of U.N. demands does not require


military action, but he said it may, and he acknowledged that


"military conflict could be difficult." But "there is no easy or


risk-free course of action," he said.





"Some have argued we should wait -- and that is an option," he said.


"In my view, it is the riskiest of all options -- because the longer


we wait, the stronger and bolder Saddam Hussein will become. We could


wait and hope that Saddam does not give weapons to terrorists, or


develop a nuclear weapon to blackmail the world. But I am convinced


that is a hope against all evidence."





Saddam Hussein, Bush said, "must disarm himself -- or, for the sake of


peace, we will lead a coalition to disarm him."





The president said the lives of Iraqi citizens would "improve


dramatically" if Saddam Hussein were removed from power, "just as the


lives of Afghanistan's citizens improved after the Taliban."





"America is a friend to the people of Iraq," he said. When the demands


he has outlined are met, Bush said, "the first and greatest benefit


will come to Iraqi men, women, and children. ... Freed from the weight


of oppression, Iraq's people will be able to share in the progress and


prosperity of our time."





Bush delivered his speech before a group of civic leaders in


Cincinnati, Ohio. His speech coincided with the anniversary of the


first U.S. airstrikes against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan.





Following is a transcript of the president's remarks:





(begin transcript)





THE WHITE HOUSE


Office of the Press Secretary (Cincinnati, Ohio)


October 7, 2002





REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON IRAQ





Cincinnati Museum Center -- Cincinnati Union Terminal Cincinnati, Ohio





THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thank you for that very gracious and


warm Cincinnati welcome. I'm honored to be here tonight; I appreciate


you all coming.





Tonight I want to take a few minutes to discuss a grave threat to


peace, and America's determination to lead the world in confronting


that threat.





The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime's


own actions -- its history of aggression, and its drive toward an


arsenal of terror. Eleven years ago, as a condition for ending the


Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi regime was required to destroy its weapons


of mass destruction, to cease all development of such weapons, and to


stop all support for terrorist groups. The Iraqi regime has violated


all of those obligations. It possesses and produces chemical and


biological weapons. It is seeking nuclear weapons. It has given


shelter and support to terrorism, and practices terror against its own


people. The entire world has witnessed Iraq's eleven-year history of


defiance, deception and bad faith.





We also must never forget the most vivid events of recent history. On


September the 11th, 2001, America felt its vulnerability -- even to


threats that gather on the other side of the earth. We resolved then,


and we are resolved today, to confront every threat, from any source,


that could bring sudden terror and suffering to America.





Members of the Congress of both political parties, and members of the


United Nations Security Council, agree that Saddam Hussein is a threat


to peace and must disarm. We agree that the Iraqi dictator must not be


permitted to threaten America and the world with horrible poisons and


diseases and gases and atomic weapons. Since we all agree on this


goal, the issues is : how can we best achieve it?





Many Americans have raised legitimate questions: about the nature of


the threat; about the urgency of action -- why be concerned now; about


the link between Iraq developing weapons of terror, and the wider war


on terror. These are all issues we've discussed broadly and fully


within my administration. And tonight, I want to share those


discussions with you.





First, some ask why Iraq is different from other countries or regimes


that also have terrible weapons. While there are many dangers in the


world, the threat from Iraq stands aloe -- because it gathers the most


serious dangers of our age in one place. Iraq's weapons of mass


destruction are controlled by a murderous tyrant who has already used


chemical weapons to kill thousands of people. This same tyrant has


tried to dominate the Middle East, has invaded and brutally occupied a


small neighbor, has struck other nations without warning, and holds an


unrelenting hostility toward the United States.





By its past and present actions, by its technological capabilities, by


the merciless nature of its regime, Iraq is unique. As a former chief


weapons inspector of the U.N. has said, "The fundamental problem with


Iraq remains the nature of the regime, itself. Saddam Hussein is a


homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction."





Some ask how urgent this danger is to America and the world. The


danger is already significant, and it only grows worse with time. If


we know Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today -- and we do --


does it make any sense for the world to wait to confront him as he


grows even stronger and develops even more dangerous weapons?





In 1995, after several years of deceit by the Iraqi regime, the head


of Iraq's military industries defected. It was then that the regime


was forced to admit that it had produced more than 30,000 liters of


anthrax and other deadly biological agents. The inspectors, however,


concluded that Iraq had likely produced two to four times that amount.


This is a massive stockpile of biological weapons that has never been


accounted for, and capable of killing millions.





We know that the regime has produced thousands of tons of chemical


agents, including mustard gas, sarin nerve gas, VX nerve gas. Saddam


Hussein also has experience in using chemical weapons. He has ordered


chemical attacks on Iran, and on more than forty villages in his own


country. These actions killed or injured at least 20,000 people, more


than six times the number of people who died in the attacks of


September the 11th.





And surveillance photos reveal that the regime is rebuilding


facilities that it had used to produce chemical and biological


weapons. Every chemical and biological weapon that Iraq has or makes


is a direct violation of the truce that ended the Persian Gulf War in


1991. Yet, Saddam Hussein has chosen to build and keep these weapons


despite international sanctions, U.N. demands, and isolation from the


civilized world.





Iraq possesses ballistic missiles with a likely range of hundreds of


miles -- far enough to strike Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and other


nations -- in a region where more than 135,000 American civilians and


service members live and work. We've also discovered through


intelligence that Iraq has a growing fleet of manned and unmanned


aerial vehicles that could be used to disperse chemical or biological


weapons across broad areas. We're concerned that Iraq is exploring


ways of using these UAVS for missions targeting the United States.


And, of course, sophisticated delivery systems aren't required for a


chemical or biological attack; all that might be required are a small


container and one terrorist or Iraqi intelligence operative to deliver


it.





And that is the source of our urgent concern about Saddam Hussein's


links to international terrorist groups. Over the years, Iraq has


provided safe haven to terrorists such as Abu Nidal, whose terror


organization carried out more than 90 terrorist attacks in 20


countries that killed or injured nearly 900 people, including 12


Americans. Iraq has also provided safe haven to Abu Abbas, who was


responsible for seizing the Achille Lauro and killing an American


passenger. And we know that Iraq is continuing to finance terror and


gives assistance to groups that use terrorism to undermine Middle East


peace.





We know that Iraq and the al Qaeda terrorist network share a common


enemy -- the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al Qaeda


have had high-level contacts that go back a decade. Some al Qaeda


leaders who fled Afghanistan went to Iraq. These include one very


senior al Qaeda leader who received medical treatment in Baghdad this


year, and who has been associated with planning for chemical and


biological attacks. We've learned that Iraq has trained al Qaeda


members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gases. And we know that


after September the 11th, Saddam Hussein's regime gleefully celebrated


the terrorist attacks on America.





Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical


weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists. Alliance with


terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without


leaving any fingerprints.





Some have argued that confronting the threat from Iraq could detract


from the war against terror. To the contrary; confronting the threat


posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror. When I spoke to


Congress more than a year ago, I said that those who harbor terrorists


are as guilty as the terrorists themselves. Saddam Hussein is


harboring terrorists and the instruments of terror, the instruments of


mass death and destruction. And he cannot be trusted. The risk is


simply too great that he will use them, or provide them to a terror


network.





Terror cells and outlaw regimes building weapons of mass destruction


are different faces of the same evil. Our security requires that we


confront both. And the United States military is capable of


confronting both.





Many people have asked how close Saddam Hussein is to developing a


nuclear weapon. Well, we don't know exactly, and that's the problem.


Before the Gulf War, the best intelligence indicated that Iraq was


eight to ten years away from developing a nuclear weapon. After the


war, international inspectors learned that the regime has been much


closer -- the regime in Iraq would likely have possessed a nuclear


weapon no later than 1993. The inspectors discovered that Iraq had an


advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a


workable nuclear weapon, and was pursuing several different methods of


enriching uranium for a bomb.





Before being barred from Iraq in 1998, the International Atomic Energy


Agency dismantled extensive nuclear weapons-related facilities,


including three uranium enrichment sites. That same year, information


from a high-ranking Iraqi nuclear engineer who had defected revealed


that despite his public promises, Saddam Hussein had ordered his


nuclear program to continue.





The evidence indicates that Iraq is reconstituting its nuclear weapons


program. Saddam Hussein has held numerous meetings with Iraqi nuclear


scientists, a group he calls his "nuclear mujahideen" -- his nuclear


holy warriors. Satellite photographs reveal that Iraq is rebuilding


facilities at sites that have been part of its nuclear program in the


past. Iraq has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes and


other equipment needed for gas centrifuges, which are used to enrich


uranium for nuclear weapons.





If the Iraqi regime is able to produce, buy, or steal an amount of


highly enriched uranium a little larger than a single softball, it


could have a nuclear weapon in less than a year. And if we allow that


to happen, a terrible line would be crossed. Saddam Hussein would be


in a position to blackmail anyone who opposes his aggression. He would


be in a position to dominate the Middle East. He would be in a


position to threaten America. And Saddam Hussein would be in a


position to pass nuclear technology to terrorists.





Some citizens wonder, after 11 years of living with this problem, why


do we need to confront it now? And there's a reason. We've experienced


the horror of September the 11th. We have seen that those who hate


America are willing to crash airplanes into buildings full of innocent


people. Our enemies would be no less willing, in fact, they would be


eager, to use biological or chemical, or a nuclear weapon.





Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering


against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the


final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a


mushroom cloud. As President Kennedy said in October of 1962, "Neither


the United States of America, nor the world community of nations can


tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any


nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world," he said, "where


only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to


a nations security to constitute maximum peril."





Understanding the threats of our time, knowing the designs and


deceptions of the Iraqi regime, we have every reason to assume the


worst, and we have an urgent duty to prevent the worst from occurring.





Some believe we can address this danger by simply resuming the old


approach to inspections, and applying diplomatic and economic


pressure. Yet this is precisely what the world has tried to do since


1991. The U.N. inspections program was met with systematic deception.


The Iraqi regime bugged hotel rooms and offices of inspectors to find


where they were going next; they forged documents, destroyed evidence,


and developed mobile weapons facilities to keep a step ahead of


inspectors. Eight so-called presidential palaces were declared


off-limits to unfettered inspections. These sites actually encompass


twelve square miles, with hundreds of structures, both above and below


the ground, where sensitive materials could be hidden.





The world has also tried economic sanctions -- and watched Iraq use


billions of dollars in illegal oil revenues to fund more weapons


purchases, rather than providing for the needs of the Iraqi people.





The world has tried limited military strikes to destroy Iraq's weapons


of mass destruction capabilities -- only to see them openly rebuilt,


while the regime again denies they even exist.





The world has tried no-fly zones to keep Saddam from terrorizing his


own people -- and in the last year alone, the Iraqi military has fired


upon American and British pilots more than 750 times.





After eleven years during which we have tried containment, sanctions,


inspections, even selected military action, the end result is that


Saddam Hussein still has chemical and biological weapons and is


increasing his capabilities to make more. And he is moving ever closer


to developing a nuclear weapon.





Clearly, to actually work, any new inspections, sanctions or


enforcement mechanisms will have to be very different. America wants


the U.N. to be an effective organization that helps keep the peace.


And that is why we are urging the Security Council to adopt a new


resolution setting out tough, immediate requirements. Among those


requirements: the Iraqi regime must reveal and destroy, under U.N.


supervision, all existing weapons of mass destruction. To ensure that


we learn the truth, the regime must allow witnesses to its illegal


activities to be interviewed outside the country -- and these


witnesses must be free to bring their families with them so they all


beyond the reach of Saddam Hussein's terror and murder. And inspectors


must have access to any site, at any time, without pre-clearance,


without delay, without exceptions.





The time for denying, deceiving, and delaying has come to an end.


Saddam Hussein must disarm himself -- or, for the sake of peace, we


will lead a coalition to disarm him.





Many nations are joining us in insisting that Saddam Hussein's regime


be held accountable. They are committed to defending the international


security that protects the lives of both our citizens and theirs. And


that's why America is challenging all nations to take the resolutions


of the U.N. Security Council seriously.





And these resolutions are clear. In addition to declaring and


destroying all of its weapons of mass destruction, Iraq must end its


support for terrorism. It must cease the persecution of its civilian


population. It must stop all illicit trade outside the Oil For Food


program. It must release or account for all Gulf War personnel,


including an American pilot, whose fate is still unknown.





By taking these steps, and by only taking these steps, the Iraqi


regime has an opportunity to avoid conflict. Taking these steps would


also change the nature of the Iraqi regime itself. America hopes the


regime will make that choice. Unfortunately, at least so far, we have


little reason to expect it. And that's why two administrations -- mine


and President Clinton's -- have stated that regime change in Iraq is


the only certain means of removing a great danger to our nation.





I hope this will not require military action, but it may. And military


conflict could be difficult. An Iraqi regime faced with its own demise


may attempt cruel and desperate measures. If Saddam Hussein orders


such measures, his generals would be well advised to refuse those


orders. If they do not refuse, they must understand that all war


criminals will be pursued and punished. If we have to act, we will


take every precaution that is possible. We will plan carefully; we


will act with the full power of the United States military; we will


act with allies at our side, and we will prevail. (Applause.)





There is no easy or risk-free course of action. Some have argued we


should wait -- and that's an option. In my view, it's the riskiest of


all options, because the longer we wait, the stronger and bolder


Saddam Hussein will become. We could wait and hope that Saddam does


not give weapons to terrorists, or develop a nuclear weapon to


blackmail the world. But I'm convinced that is a hope against all


evidence. As Americans, we want peace -- we work and sacrifice for


peace. But there can be no peace if our security depends on the will


and whims of a ruthless and aggressive dictator. I'm not willing to


stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein.





Failure to act would embolden other tyrants, allow terrorists access


to new weapons and new resources, and make blackmail a permanent


feature of world events. The United Nations would betray the purpose


of its founding, and prove irrelevant to the problems of our time. And


through its inaction, the United States would resign itself to a


future of fear.





That is not the America I know. That is not the America I serve. We


refuse to live in fear. (Applause.) This nation, in world war and in


Cold War, has never permitted the brutal and lawless to set history's


course. Now, as before, we will secure our nation, protect our


freedom, and help others to find freedom of their own.





Some worry that a change of leadership in Iraq could create


instability and make the situation worse. The situation could hardly


get worse, for world security and for the people of Iraq. The lives of


Iraqi citizens would improve dramatically if Saddam Hussein were no


longer in power, just as the lives of Afghanistan's citizens improved


after the Taliban. The dictator of Iraq is a student of Stalin, using


murder as a tool of terror and control, within his own cabinet, within


his own army, and even within his own family.





On Saddam Hussein's orders, opponents have been decapitated, wives and


mothers of political opponents have been systematically raped as a


method of intimidation, and political prisoners have been forced to


watch their own children being tortured.





America believes that all people are entitled to hope and human


rights, to the non-negotiable demands of human dignity. People


everywhere prefer freedom to slavery; prosperity to squalor;


self-government to the rule of terror and torture. America is a friend


to the people of Iraq. Our demands are directed only at the regime


that enslaves them and threatens us. When these demands are met, the


first and greatest benefit will come to Iraqi men, women and children.


The oppression of Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomans, Shi'a, Sunnis and


others will be lifted. The long captivity of Iraq will end, and an era


of new hope will begin.





Iraq is a land rich in culture, resources, and talent. Freed from the


weight of oppression, Iraq's people will be able to share in the


progress and prosperity of our time. If military action is necessary,


the United States and our allies will help the Iraqi people rebuild


their economy, and create the institutions of liberty in a unified


Iraq at peace with its neighbors.





Later this week, the United States Congress will vote on this matter.


I have asked Congress to authorize the use of America's military, if


it proves necessary, to enforce U.N. Security Council demands.


Approving this resolution does not mean that military action is


imminent or unavoidable. The resolution will tell the United Nations,


and all nations, that America speaks with one voice and is determined


to make the demands of the civilized world mean something. Congress


will also be sending a message to the dictator in Iraq: that his only


chance -- his only choice is full compliance, and the time remaining


for that choice is limited.





Members of Congress are nearing an historic vote. I'm confident they


will fully consider the facts, and their duties.





The attacks of September the 11th showed our country that vast oceans


no longer protect us from danger. Before that tragic date, we had only


hints of al Qaeda's plans and designs. Today in Iraq, we see a threat


whose outlines are far more clearly defined, and whose consequences


could be far more deadly. Saddam Hussein's actions have put us on


notice, and there is no refuge from our responsibilities.





We did not ask for this present challenge, but we accept it. Like


other generations of Americans, we will meet the responsibility of


defending human liberty against violence and aggression. By our


resolve, we will give strength to others. By our courage, we will give


hope to others. And by our actions, we will secure the peace, and lead


the world to a better day.





May God bless America.  (Applause.)





(end transcript)