October 7, 2002

SHOW ME THE MONEY QUOTE:

President Bush Outlines Iraqi Threat (Remarks by the President on Iraq, Cincinnati, Ohio, 10/07/02)
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.


This is the part of the speech that really matters. For anyone who didn't understand the point when he made it in the UN Address, Mr. Bush is saying that compliance with the existing UN resolutions requires regime change. Posted by Orrin Judd at October 7, 2002 11:22 PM
Comments

The key sentences are:



"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."



That means the U.S. already has its coalition (though some might not be known until after hostilities start), so if you continue to complain about "unilateralism" you will once again be shown to be fool.

Posted by: Thom at October 8, 2002 9:06 AM
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