Transcript President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours

President Says Saddam Hussein
Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation (March 17,
2003).
George W. Bush
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Background:
After Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, the U.S. in
August 1990 President Bush appeared before a joint
session of Congress on September 11, 1990 and
announced that Saddam Hussein aggression would not
stand. After a brief war, Iraq was defeated and Kuwait
liberated. However, Saddam Hussein remained in power.
A condition of the peace treaty signed with Hussein was
that Iraq must disarm. Hussein violated the treaty and
UN Resolutions on multiple occasions, choosing instead
to conceal its weapon programs and defense
capabilities from United Nations weapons inspections.
On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda attacked destroyed
New York’s World Trade Center, killing some three
thousand innocent victims.
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Main Points:
1. Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction, even though
they pledge to reveal and destroy them as a condition for
ending the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Iraq also harbors
terrorists, including al Qaeda.
2. FEAR: The United Nation’s Security Council has failed to live
up to its responsibilities to Saddam Hussein, but we must
confront him to avoid the danger of Iraq giving terrorists
chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to kill hundreds of
thousands of people in our country.
3. ULTIMATUM: If Saddam Hussein and his sons do not leave
Iraq within 48 hours, the United States will attack Iraq.
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Main Points:
4. “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.”
5. The American people should feel assured. Our
government is taking action to protect our homeland.
6. After the United States removes Saddam Hussein, the
Iraqi people “can set an example to all the Middle East
of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation.
“[T]he greatest power of freedom is to overcome
hatred and violence, and turn the creative gifts of men
and women to the pursuits of peace.”
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Questions:
In the speech, President Bush stated, “The security
of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein
now.” Were sanctions insufficient? The dangerous
regimes of Iran and North Korea were arguably
further along in developing weapons of mass
destruction. What made Iraq different so as to
require immediate disarmament?
Bush stated, “…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.” Has this happened? If not, why has this not
happened?
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Historical Significance:
Bush launched the long-anticipated invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003. Saddam
Hussein’s vaunted military machine collapsed almost immediately. In less than
a month, Baghdad had fallen. Some nine months later, Hussein was captured.
Contrary to rosy predictions that the democracy would blossom in Iraq after the
removal of Hussein, Iraq became a seething cauldron of apparently endless
violence. Iraqi factions jockeyed murderously for political position in the postSaddam era. Iraqi insurgents, aided by militants drawn from other Islamic
nations, repeatedly attacked American troops, killing more soldiers during the
occupation than during the invasion itself. Meanwhile, the invasion and
subsequent unrest claimed the lives of as many as 17,000 Iraqi civilians. By
many accounts, Iraq today is near the brink of civil war. Arguably, U.S. military
in Iraq is now in the difficult position of being both a catalyst for the insurgency
and the only force keeping the country from outright civil war.
The United States’ image in many quarters around the world has been further
tarnished by the preemptive strike against Iraq. Revelations in April 2004 about
American abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison
have further inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq and beyond.
Nevertheless, most Iraqis are not actively fighting the U.S., and instead desire
peace and security. The number of newspapers in Iraq has increased, and so
too has the number of Iraqi policemen and government soldiers. Meanwhile,
many Iraqi politicians are struggling to resolve deep-seated enmities and create
a viable democratic government.
Source: The American Pageant, 13th edition, pp. 1005-1006.
Documented civilian deaths from violence
77,847 – 84,812
Deaths in each week from 2003–2007
Deaths per day from gunfire / executions
Deaths per day from vehicle bombs
Refugees from Iraq have increased in
number since the US-led invasion into Iraq
in March 2003. An estimated 1.6-2.0
million people have fled the country. The
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees estimated in a report released in
November 2006 that more than 1.6 million
Iraqis had left Iraq since March 2003,
nearly 7 percent of the total population.
The BBC on 22 January 2007 placed the
refugee figure at 2 million.
http://costofwar.com/index-world-hunger.html
Many Iraqis are leaving their country.
Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Historical Significance:
In Iran, a backlash response to the
United States’ invasion of Iraq has
resulted in the defeat of a more liberalleaning government and the rise to
power of a radical conservative
government that has aggressively
decided to develop nuclear weapons.
Mohammad Khatami
President of Iran from
1997-2005
BACKLASH IN IRAN: On 24 June 2005 Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad
[mah-MOOD ah-mah-dih-nee-ZHAHD ] was elected as Iran's
president. Ahmadinejad swept to the presidential post with a
stunning 17,046,441 votes out of a total of 27,536,069 votes
cast in the runoff election. His rival and Expediency Council
Chairman Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gained only 9,841,346.
Mahmoud
Ahmadi
Nejad
Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Iran's nuclear chief said that Iran has enriched
uranium up to 4.8 percent — the upper end of
the range needed to make fuel for reactors —
as it continues to defy U.S. and European
demands to stop enrichment.