Steve Quayle News Alerts

October 7, 2002

WASHINGTON — Billed as an "important speech" about Iraq, President Bush told the nation Monday night that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein poses a unique threat that must be addressed now rather than later.

"The threat comes from Iraq. It arises directly from the Iraqi regime's own actions, its history of aggression and its drive for weapons of terror," Bush said. "The threat from Iraq stands alone because it gathers the most serious dangers of our age in one place."

"By its past and present actions, by its technological capabilities, by the merciless nature of its regime, Iraq is unique," the president said.

The address, delivered from Cincinnati's Museum Center, comes on the first anniversary of the war in Afghanistan that brought down the Taliban and put Al Qaeda on the run.

The president said as the United States continues to clean up that beleagured nation, it must also move to prevent terrorists booted out of Afghanistan from re-stationing inside Iraq.

"Iraq could decide on any given day to provide a biological or chemical weapon to a terrorist group or individual terrorists," Bush said, adding that aside from other Middle Eastern terrorists, Iraq has provided safe haven for Al Qaeda leaders seeking medical treatment and has provided training for Al Qaeda members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gasses."

The president did not announce that war was imminent -- and, in fact, said that he does not look forward to any military action. He did, however, say that he won't sit by as Saddam continues his path unobstructed.

"When I spoke to Congress more than 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," Bush said. "I am not willing to stake one American life on trusting Saddam Hussein."

"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," he added.

Bush told Iraq's military officers that they do not have to obey Saddam if he orders them to use biological and chemical weapons against United States soldiers, who may move to topple Saddam's regime.

Bush also told them that U.S. forces will hunt them down if they use those weapons.

The 20-minute speech contained some blunt rhetoric, though little new information came out.

The president did reveal that satellite imagery -- usually not spoken about because it is derived from covert intelligence -- shows that Saddam has reconstituted his nuclear weapons program. He also reiterated that if Saddam is able to get his hands on uranium, he would be able to threaten

Of late, the president has changed his tune in sharpening his rhetoric about Saddam, calling him a "student of Stalin using murder and terror as a means of control" and a "homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction."

Bush did say that he would seek a coalition in trying to put Saddam down, but that so far Saddam has been defiant throughout the past 11 years.

If military action is necessary, the United States will help the Iraqi people rebuild their economy, Bush promised.

Advisers have compared the president's speech to an August 2001 address in which the president explained why he would allow limited federal funding for controversial research using stem cells derived from human embryos. In that address, he listed concerns raised by critics and answered them one by one.

Before the president spoke, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Monday that he wanted to hear the president address cooperation with the United Nations.

"I think what the president needs to do is reiterate what he views to be the threat, first of all, and secondly his strong desire to work through the U.N. and the international community to respond to that threat. What he has taken, what steps he continues to prepare to take to ensure that that happens," Daschle said.

The president did say that the old systems of U.N. weapons inspections must be thrown out and a new system applied, including the ability of inspectors to do candid interviews and inspect previously off-limit presidential palaces.

"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," Bush said.

The speech was also meant to keep the pressure on Congress to pass a tough resolution, authorizing military force in Iraq. Lawmakers are debating the issue this week and it is expected to pass the House by Thursday. The Senate schedule, however, is not so certain.

North Carolina Democratic Sen. John Edwards gave a speech Monday that accuses the president of "gratuitous unilateralism."

"In word and deed," the administration "frequently sends the message that others don't matter," the potential 2004 Democratic presidential candidate said in the draft text of a speech he delivered to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

"It rightly demands that our allies back efforts vital to America's interests, but then shows disdain for cooperative endeavors and agreements important to theirs," Edwards said.

In the Senate, Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ted Kennedy spoke for dissenters when he denounced a new doctrine of pre-emptive military strikes.

"America cannot right its own rules for the modern world. To attempt to do so would be unilateralism run amok. The administration's doctrine is a call for 21st century American imperialism that no other nation can or should accept," Kennedy said.

Though Democrats in the Senate are still hesitant over a resolution, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said Monday that he was coming off the fence to support Bush on the campaign in Iraq.

"I will cast my vote without reservation. Every day my prayers will be with America's sons and daughters who will carry out this great task," Armey, who is retiring from Congress at the end of this term, said.

Referring to Saddam, he added that he is "convinced the snake is out of its hole."

The president said that members of both parties and in both chambers of Congress agree that Saddam's weapons must be dismantled, and that congressional unity is important in sending a message around the world.

"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," the the president said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,65022,00.html