http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=63713
The American Presidency Project
George W. Bush
XLIII President of the United States: 2001 - 2009
Address to the Nation on Iraq
March 17, 2003
My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf war in 1991.
Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned.
The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament. Over the years, U.N. weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and systematically deceived.
http://www.azlyrics.com/v/vanhalen.html
AZ
Van Halen
album: "1984 (MCMLXXXIV)" (1984)
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/vanhalen/panama.html
AZ
Van Halen
"Panama"
Jump back, what's that sound ?
Here she comes, full blast and top down.
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue.
Model citizen zero discipline
Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'l lose her in the turn.
I'll get her!
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine.
Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean.
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue,
Got an on-ramp comin' through my bedroom.
Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'll lose her in the turn.
I'll get her!
Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight.
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it.
Ah, you reach down, between my legs, ease the seat back.
She's blinding, I'm flying,
Right behind the rear-view mirror now.
Got the feeling, power steering,
Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now!
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
From 10/15/1952 ( Harry Truman - Proclamation 2993—Copyright: Principality of Monaco ) To 2/27/1990 ( from my official United States Navy documents: while inport Monaco my permanent transfer from US Navy warship USS Wainwright CG 28 to Naval Station Charleston South Carolina for active duty separation processing ) is 13649 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/17/2003 is 13649 days
From 5/12/1991 ( I was the winning race driver at the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix ) To 3/17/2003 is 4327 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/7/1977 ( the United States agrees to relinquish control of the Panama Canal ) is 4327 days
From 12/20/1989 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - George Bush - Address to the Nation Announcing United States Military Action in Panama - as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) To 3/17/2003 is 4835 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/28/1979 ( premiere US TV episode "Battlestar Galactica"::"The Man with Nine Lives" ) is 4835 days
From 12/25/1991 ( as United States Marine Corps chief warrant officer Kerry Wayne Burgess I was prisoner of war in Croatia ) To 3/17/2003 is 4100 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/23/1977 ( premiere US TV miniseries "Roots" ) is 4100 days
From 8/7/1957 ( Oliver Hardy deceased ) To 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) is 13649 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/17/2003 is 13649 days
From 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) To 3/17/2003 is 4442 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 12/31/1977 ( premiere US TV series episode "In Search of..."::"The Man Who Would Not Die" ) is 4442 days
From 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) To 3/17/2003 is 4442 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 12/31/1977 ( premiere US TV series episode "In Search of..."::"The Man Who Would Not Die" ) is 4442 days
From 5/14/1992 ( as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps chief warrant officer circa 1992 and United States chief test pilot I performed the first flight of the US Army and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow ) To 3/17/2003 is 3959 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/4/1976 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States arrested again by police in the United States ) is 3959 days
From 5/14/1992 ( the Intelsat 6 successful rescue during US space shuttle Endeavour orbiter vehicle mission STS-49 includes me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps officer and United States STS-49 pilot astronaut ) To 3/17/2003 is 3959 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/4/1976 ( the unpublished true birthdate of Beyonce Knowles ) is 3959 days
From 3/6/1952 ( Harry Truman - Radio and Television Address to the American People on the Mutual Security Program ) To 7/19/1989 ( the United Airlines Flight 232 crash and the end of Kerry Burgess the natural human being cloned from another human being ) is 13649 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/17/2003 is 13649 days
From 7/25/1961 ( John Kennedy - Radio and Television Report to the American People on the Berlin Crisis ) To 12/7/1998 ( my first day working at Microsoft Corporation as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and the active duty United States Marine Corps lieutenant colonel circa 1998 ) is 13649 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 3/17/2003 is 13649 days
From 12/25/1971 ( George Walker Bush the purveyor of illegal drugs strictly for his personal profit including the trafficking of massive amounts of cocaine into the United States confined to federal prison in Mexico for illegally smuggling narcotics in Mexico ) To 3/17/2003 is 11405 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/23/1997 ( Bill Clinton - Memorandum on Increasing Seatbelt Use ) is 11405 days
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=63713
The American Presidency Project
George W. Bush
XLIII President of the United States: 2001 - 2009
Address to the Nation on Iraq
March 17, 2003
My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf war in 1991.
Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good faith has not been returned.
The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament. Over the years, U.N. weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed again and again because we are not dealing with peaceful men.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.
The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained, and harbored terrorists, including operatives of Al Qaida.
The danger is clear: Using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other.
The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat. But we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety. Before the day of horror can come, before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed.
The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me as Commander in Chief, by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep.
Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to support the use of force against Iraq. America tried to work with the United Nations to address this threat because we wanted to resolve the issue peacefully. We believe in the mission of the United Nations. One reason theU.N. was founded after the Second World War was to confront aggressive dictators actively and early, before they can attack the innocent and destroy the peace.
In the case of Iraq, the Security Council did act in the early 1990s. Under Resolutions 678 and 687, both still in effect, the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. This is not a question of authority. It is a question of will.
Last September, I went to the U.N. General Assembly and urged the nations of the world to unite and bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach of its obligations and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and immediately disarm.
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed, and it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power. For the last 4 1/2 months, the United States and our allies have worked within the Security Council to enforce that Council's long-standing demands. Yet, some permanent members of the Security Council have publicly announced they will veto any resolution that compels the disarmament of Iraq. These governments share our assessment of the danger but not our resolve to meet it.
Many nations, however, do have the resolve and fortitude to act against this threat to peace, and a broad coalition is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world. The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours.
In recent days, some governments in the Middle East have been doing their part. They have delivered public and private messages urging the dictator to leave Iraq, so that disarmament can proceed peacefully. He has thus far refused.
All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals, including journalists and inspectors, should leave Iraq immediately.
Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I have a message for them: If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you. As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror, and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near.
It is too late for Saddam Hussein to remain in power. It is not too late for the Iraqi military to act with honor and protect your country by permitting the peaceful entry of coalition forces to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Our forces will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can take to avoid being attacked and destroyed. I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services: If war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life.
And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning: In any conflict, your fate will depend on your actions. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished. And it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders."
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war and every measure will be taken to win it. Americans understand the costs of conflict because we have paid them in the past. War has no certainty, except the certainty of sacrifice. Yet, the only way to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the full force and might of our military, and we are prepared to do so.
If Saddam Hussein attempts to cling to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end. In desperation, he and terrorists groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the American people and our friends. These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible. And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed.
Our Government is on heightened watch against these dangers. Just as we are preparing to ensure victory in Iraq, we are taking further actions to protect our homeland. In recent days, American authorities have expelled from the country certain individuals with ties to Iraqi intelligence services. Among other measures, I have directed additional security of our airports and increased Coast Guard patrols of major seaports. The Department of Homeland Security is working closely with the Nation's Governors to increase armed security at critical facilities across America.
Should enemies strike our country, they would be attempting to shift our attention with panic and weaken our morale with fear. In this, they would fail. No act of theirs can alter the course or shake the resolve of this country. We are a peaceful people. Yet we're not a fragile people, and we will not be intimidated by thugs and killers. If our enemies dare to strike us, they and all who have aided them will face fearful consequences.
We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be far greater. In 1 year, or 5 years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations would be multiplied many times over. With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are strongest. We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities.
The cause of peace requires all free nations to recognize new and undeniable realities. In the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous dictators, whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global war. In this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological, and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this Earth.
Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice, in formal declarations. And responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense; it is suicide. The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.
As we enforce the just demands of the world, we will also honor the deepest commitments of our country. Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi people are deserving and capable of human liberty. And when the dictator has departed, they can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation.
The United States, with other countries, will work to advance liberty and peace in that region. Our goal will not be achieved overnight, but it can come over time. The power and appeal of human liberty is felt in every life and every land. And the greatest power of freedom is to overcome hatred and violence and turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits of peace.
That is the future we choose. Free nations have a duty to defend our people by uniting against the violent. And tonight, as we have done before, America and our allies accept that responsibility.
Good night, and may God continue to bless America.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:01 p.m.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: - posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 12:45 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Wednesday 20 July 2016 - http://hvom.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-enemy-within.html
She had asked me as we sat there at the table a question about what I did in my spare time. That was my response.
JOURNAL ARCHIVE: Posted by H.V.O.M at 8:50 AM Saturday, July 21, 2007
When I was sitting there in that bar in our office in historic Bellevue, Washington, in 1999, I told her I drove around in my blue Mazda RX-7 and solved crimes. Suzanne Morgan then looked across the table at Thomas Dawkins and asked him "What did he say?" and Thomas repeated what I had said. Later that evening, from my apartment at Oakwood, I wrote an email to Suzanne and commented that all the cigarette smoke in that bar had caused my face to turn red.
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 21 July 2007 excerpt ends]
[JOURNAL ARCHIVE 20 July 2016 excerpt ends]
http://www.tv.com/shows/roots-the-complete-miniseries/the-mini-series-episode-1-3036605/
tv.com
The Mini Series: Episode 1
Aired Sunday 9:00 PM Jan 23, 1977 on ABC
AIRED: 1/23/77
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075572/quotes
IMDb
Roots (1977– )
Quotes
Kunta Kinti: Chains ain't right for niggers, Fiddler!
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58808
The American Presidency Project
Harry S. Truman
XXXIII President of the United States: 1945-1953
Proclamation 2993—Copyright: Principality of Monaco
October 15, 1952
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Whereas section 9 of title 17 of the United States Code, entitled "Copyrights", as codified and enacted into positive law by the act of Congress approved July 30, 1947, 61 Stat. 652, provides in part that the copyright secured by said title shall extend to the work of an author or proprietor who is a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation only:
"(a) When an alien author or proprietor shall be domiciled within the United States at the time of the first publication of his work; or
"(b) When the foreign state or nation of which such author or proprietor is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty, convention, agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to its own citizens, or copyright protection, substantially equal to the protection secured to such foreign author under this title or by treaty; or when such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States may, at its pleasure, become a party thereto.",
and
Whereas section 1 of the said title 17 provides in part as follows:
"Any person entitled thereto, upon complying with the provisions of this title, shall have the exclusive right:
* * * * *
"(e) to perform the copyrighted work publicly for profit if it be a musical composition; * * * Provided, That the provisions of this title, so far as they secure copyright controlling the parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work, shall include only compositions published and copyrighted after July 1, 1909, and shall not include the works of a foreign author or composer unless the foreign state or nation of which such author or composer is a citizen or subject grants, either by treaty, convention, agreement, or law, to citizens of the United States similar rights.";
and
Whereas section 9 of the said title 17 further provides that "The existence of the reciprocal conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States, by proclamation made from time to time as the purposes of this title may require * * *"; and
Whereas a Sovereign Ordinance has been issued this day by His Serene Highness the Prince of Monaco whereby citizens of the United States as of this day are entitled to obtain copyright protection in the Principality of Monaco for all their artistic and literary works on substantially the same basis as nationals of Monaco, including rights similar to those provided by section 1(e) of the said title 17:
Now, Therefore, I, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim:
That as of this day the conditions specified in section (b) and 1(e) of title 17 of the United States Code exist and are fulfilled with respect to nationals of the Principality of Monaco, and that nationals of the Principality of Monaco as of this day are entitled to all the benefits of the said title 17 except those conferred by the provisions embodied in the second paragraph of section 9(b) thereof regarding the extension of time for fulfilling copyright conditions and formalities.
Provided, that the enjoyment by any work of the rights and benefits conferred by the said title 17 shall be conditioned upon compliance with the requirements and formalities prescribed with respect to such works by the copyright laws of the United States:
And provided further, that the provision of section 1(e) of the said title 17, so far as they secure copyright controlling parts of instruments serving to reproduce mechanically the musical work, shall apply only to compositions published on or after third day, and registered for copyright in the United States which have not been reproduced within the United States prior to this day on any contrivance by means of which the work may be mechanically performed.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington this fifteenth day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-two and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventy-seventh.
HARRY S. TRUMAN
2016November14_Chloe55_DSC00936-crop-b.jpg
1990 CG28 pa.jpg
1990 CG28 pg (13).jpg
1990 CG28 pg (69).jpg
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/18/world/fg-assess18
Los Angeles Times
SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ NEWS ANALYSIS
To Bush, War May Be Ultimate Problem-Solver
Diplomacy meant that smaller countries could stand in the way of the world's superpower.
March 18, 2003 Doyle McManus Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — It is time, a sharp-tongued administration official jokes in private, to "give war a chance."
President Bush's ultimatum to Iraq on Monday reflected two convictions that appear to have driven him ever since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. One is his belief that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein poses an imminent threat to the security of the United States; the other is a certainty that U.S. military action can provide a quick and decisive solution to that problem.
"Before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed," Bush said. "The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security.... This is not a question of authority. It is a question of will."
For Bush, six months of frustrating diplomacy at the United Nations produced no solution to the problem of Iraq. Instead, it led to a stinging political setback: his failure to win a majority vote authorizing force to disarm Hussein.
Diplomacy meant that smaller countries -- not only France, but Chile and Cameroon -- could stand in the way of the world's only superpower.
War, in contrast, now apparently looks to the president like the ultimate problem-solving tool. Administration officials say they are not merely confident of victory in Iraq; they have high hopes that victory will come swiftly, with minimal loss of life.
Although Bush in his Monday speech said he would accept a solution short of war if Hussein and his sons left Iraq, other officials said they did not expect that to happen. Indeed, the president used most of his remarks to explain why he intends to use military force and to instruct the Iraqi people how to respond when U.S. forces arrive.
"The idea that our military power is a useful tool to solve problems is an increasingly powerful and widespread view," said Lee H. Hamilton, a former Democratic congressman who now heads the Woodrow Wilson International Center think tank.
"I think Bush is gambling very heavily on a quick and decisive military victory and on a successful aftermath," he said. "On the first point, he will almost surely win his gamble. But the second is much less clear."
Other foreign policy scholars, including some who favor war in Iraq and some who are opposed, made much the same point: American military superiority around the globe means the United States can probably prevail in almost any armed conflict -- and that could turn into a temptation.
But winning hearts and minds may be more difficult, especially if thousands of U.S. troops find themselves running a post-Hussein Iraq.
"Perceptions of power are very significant in decision-makers' psyches when they define interests and objectives," said Terry Deibel, a strategist at the National War College. "If the only tool you've got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." (He noted that he was speaking personally, not for the college, which is run by the Department of Defense.)
"American military strength is not in doubt, and our military means have become more effective and more efficient because of technology," Deibel said. By contrast, "The diplomacy we just saw at the U.N. ... is the instrument of the weak."
Deibel said he supports a war against Iraq.
"There is a real threat there, and I don't think inspections would find the smoking gun," he said.
John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago argued that the war is unnecessary, but described the administration's approach to the use of power in similar terms.
"The Bush administration believes in big-stick diplomacy," he said. "It believes ... if you use military force and do it effectively, you'll not only solve the immediate problem the force is directed at, you'll force other states to take notice and throw up their hands in defeat.
"The key question is not how the war will play out but how the occupation will play out," he said. "It's almost impossible for great powers like the United States to conquer and occupy other countries for a long time. The local population will view us as a colonial power. Local forces will rise up and challenge our rule."
Bush aides insist they will not fall into that trap. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said U.S. forces "will stay as long as necessary and leave as soon as possible."
But the Bush administration has not done as much visible groundwork for the postwar mission as it has for the goal of ousting Hussein. Last week, the Council on Foreign Relations, a bastion of the traditional foreign policy establishment, issued a report warning that the administration has failed to prepare the American public for the costs -- in both money and, perhaps, lives -- of administering Iraq.
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/18/world/fg-assess18/2
Los Angeles Times
(Page 2 of 2)
SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ NEWS ANALYSIS
To Bush, War May Be Ultimate Problem-Solver
Diplomacy meant that smaller countries could stand in the way of the world's superpower.
March 18, 2003 Doyle McManus Times Staff Writer
"The president has done a very good job spelling out the risks of inaction in Iraq, but he hasn't done a good job in spelling out the risks of action," Hamilton said. "He appears to have adopted the view that there should be a major long-term role for the United States in rebuilding Iraq and transforming the Middle East.... But he has not prepared the American people for that."
Foreign policy experts said other diplomatic missteps on the way to Monday's ultimatum also reduced the degree of international support the U.S. can rely on, both during a war and after.
"We have mishandled the diplomacy -- if you want to call it diplomacy -- monstrously," said Lawrence S. Eagleburger, secretary of State during the administration of Bush's father.
"I don't think we could have avoided most of the negative reaction we're getting around the world," he said. "Even if it had been handled beautifully, there was never going to be enough support to get a Security Council vote to authorize military action.... But we could have done it at lower cost."
As a result, Eagleburger and others said, Bush's margin for error is now reduced. If the United States wins the war quickly and easily, and handles the aftermath deftly, all will be forgiven. But if the U.S. action in Iraq runs into problems, the critics will lose no time in pouncing.
"There's a real concern in the rest of the world that the world's only superpower simply should not be allowed to flex its muscles this way," said Eagleburger, who added that he supports the war.
"If, in the aftermath, we find the weapons of mass destruction that we think are there, some of the antagonism will wither on the vine," he said. "But if things go badly in the aftermath, everybody is going to say, 'I told you so.'
"Victory has a thousand fathers," he said. "Defeat is an orphan. Or however that goes."
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/18/world/fg-bush18
Los Angeles Times
SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ
Bush Gives Hussein 48 Hours
President Sets Stage for War, Warns Iraqi Leader to Step Down
March 18, 2003 Maura Reynolds Times Staff Writer
WASHINGTON — A solemn President Bush put the nation and the world on a war footing Monday, issuing an ultimatum to Iraq's Saddam Hussein to step down within 48 hours or face sure destruction "at a time of our choosing."
In a 15-minute address from the front hall of the White House, the president also delivered three messages to Iraqis and Americans: He promised Iraqis that war would not be aimed at them. He warned Iraqi troops not to resist U.S. forces. And he pledged to Americans to do his utmost to protect the home front from possible retaliation.
"Free nations have a duty to defend our people by uniting against the violent. And tonight, as we have done before, America and our allies accept that responsibility," Bush said.
The president's deadline means that war could begin as early as Wednesday night, Washington time -- the predawn hours of Thursday in Iraq.
Bush stressed that he believes the risks of inaction are greater than the risks of war. "In one year, or five years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations would be multiplied many times over," Bush said. "We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities."
Around the world, nations and international organizations prepared for a war that many oppose but now feel is inevitable.
The United Nations ordered weapons inspectors and other personnel out of Iraq, in effect halting the inspections process many felt was leading to partial disarmament. Witnesses said early today that a plane carrying the inspectors had taken off from Baghdad on a flight bound for Cyprus.
Foreign diplomats shuttered embassies and prepared to leave the country, and Iraqis stocked up on supplies, taped windows, took their children out of school and climbed aboard buses heading out of the capital.
"For their own safety, all foreign nationals -- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave Iraq immediately," Bush said.
Just after the speech, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge raised the national threat level to orange, or "high," the second-highest level. Ridge cited intelligence reports that in the event of a military campaign against Iraq, "terrorists will attempt multiple attacks against U.S. and coalition targets worldwide."
"These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible," Bush said. "And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed."
Bush said his remarks were being translated and broadcast into Iraq, and he said he had a message for the Iraqi people: "If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you. As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free."
At the same time, he urged the Iraqi military to give up without a fight.
"Our forces will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can take to avoid being attacked and destroyed," Bush said. "I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services: If war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life."
Then he added a threat: "War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished. And it will be no defense to say, 'I was just following orders.' "
The call to war had been expected since Sunday, when Bush and allies Britain and Spain held an emergency summit in Portugal's Azores islands and announced that diplomacy would be halted in 24 hours.
Hours later, on Monday morning, the three withdrew from the U.N. Security Council a proposed second resolution seeking authorization for military action. Under the threat of vetoes from France and Russia, the resolution had failed to attract the nine votes needed to pass.
In his remarks, Bush reviewed the failed diplomacy and accused the United Nations and "some permanent members of the Security Council" -- France and Russia -- for faltering.
"These governments share our assessment of the danger but not our resolve to meet it," Bush said. "Many nations, however, do have the resolve and fortitude to act against this threat to peace, and a broad coalition is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world. The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours."
Bush asserted that even without a new resolution, the United States has a legal right to use force to disarm Iraq.
He cited two resolutions passed in the early 1990s at the time of the Persian Gulf War. And he recalled that Resolution 1441, passed unanimously in November, promised "serious consequences" -- a diplomatic euphemism for military force -- if Iraq failed to disarm.
"This is not a question of authority, it is a question of will," the president said.
http://articles.latimes.com/2003/mar/18/world/fg-bush18/2
Los Angeles Times
(Page 2 of 2)
SHOWDOWN WITH IRAQ
Bush Gives Hussein 48 Hours
President Sets Stage for War, Warns Iraqi Leader to Step Down
March 18, 2003 Maura Reynolds Times Staff Writer
Bush reviewed the history of the United Nations, saying it had been formed in the ashes of World War II to prevent the rise of new dictators.
"In the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous dictators, whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global war. In this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this earth," Bush said.
Critics describe the impending campaign as a "preventative war," which has generally been considered illegal under international law. Bush argued that because of the threat that terrorists may acquire weapons of mass destruction, that standard should change.
"Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice, in formal declarations. And responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide."
Bush said "public and private messages" urging Hussein to step down had been delivered in recent days by various Middle Eastern nations. Iraqi officials rejected the idea that Hussein would go into exile.
"He will stay in place like a solid rock," Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Said Sahaf told the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite TV network.
The United States and Britain have more than 200,000 troops deployed around Iraq and primed for military action. Early today, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said about 2,000 Australian troops in the region would also be allowed to join the impending campaign.
Reversing course, Turkish leaders indicated Monday that they will again ask parliament to allow the United States to move troops and equipment into Turkey and open a front in northern Iraq. Despite Ankara's earlier refusal, U.S. ships remain off the coast of Turkey. It is unclear whether they could unload quickly enough to make a difference in a military operation.
The decision to raise the terrorist threat level was announced immediately after the president's speech in a flurry of calls between Ridge and other homeland security officials and the nation's governors, state and local homeland security advisors, business leaders and representatives of Mexico and Canada.
Raising the threat level, said one U.S. official, "was due to a large volume of intelligence reporting across a wide range of sources, some of which are highly reliable, which indicates Al Qaeda probably would attempt to launch terrorist attacks against U.S. interests, claiming they were defending Muslims or the Iraqi people rather than the Saddam Hussein regime."
Bush's speech had been in the works for two days, White House officials said.
It was drafted jointly by chief speechwriter Michael Gerson and political advisor Karen Hughes aboard Air Force One on Sunday night as the president and his aides returned from the Azores.
Bush will address the nation from the Oval Office when he decides to start military action, officials said.
The president said he understood the gravity of his decision and expressed confidence that the American people were prepared for the costs of the conflict.
"War has no certainty, except the certainty of sacrifice," he said.
Bush's Republican allies in Congress welcomed his resolve and backed his conclusion that further diplomatic efforts would be fruitless.
"The president has shown great patience and given diplomacy every chance to work, but as he stated tonight -- the time to act has arrived," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.).
Democrats who supported last fall's congressional resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq expressed disappointment that Bush did not organize more international support but rallied in the name of national unity.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) urged Bush to continue trying to build international support for postwar efforts to rebuild Iraq.
The cost of the war and possible postwar expenses loom as the next big fight in Congress. As soon as a military campaign begins, Bush is expected to ask Congress for new funding to pay for the war; some estimate the request will be in the range of $100 billion.
At Camp Matilda, desert headquarters for the 1st Marine Division, troops listened to the president's speech on a radio at 4 a.m. Kuwait time, as trucks loaded Marines and gear for what was described as a previously scheduled exercise in moving the force north, closer to the Iraqi border.
Early foreign reaction to Bush's speech was mixed. Australia and Japan rallied behind the American president. But mostly Muslim Indonesia and Malaysia criticized the ultimatum. Mexico said it regretted that war seemed inevitable. And France said ignoring international disapproval of a war would carry "heavy responsibility."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0020643/quotes
IMDb
Memorable quotes for
Another Fine Mess (1930)
Ollie: Well, here's a another nice mess you've gotten me into.
- posted by Kerry Burgess 01:01 AM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Wednesday 28 June 2017
