    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 36 (Monday, September 9, 1996)]
    [Pages 1641-1642]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Remarks Announcing a Missile Strike on Iraq and an Exchange With
    Reporters

    September 3, 1996

        The President. Good morning. Three days ago, despite clear warnings
    from the United States and the international community, Iraqi forces
    attacked and seized the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil in northern
    Iraq. The limited withdrawals announced by Iraq do not change the
    reality. Saddam Hussein's army today controls Irbil, and Iraqi units
    remain deployed for further attacks.
        These acts demand a strong response, and they have received one.
    Earlier today I ordered American forces to strike Iraq. Our missiles
    sent the following message to Saddam Hussein: When you abuse your own
    people or threaten your neighbors, you must pay a price.
        It appears that one Kurdish group, which in the past opposed Saddam,
    now has decided to cooperate with him. But that cannot justify
    unleashing the Iraqi army against the civilian population of Irbil.
    Repeatedly over the past weeks and months we have worked to secure a
    lasting cease-fire between the Kurdish factions. The Iraqi attack adds
    fuel to the factional fire and threatens to spark instability throughout
    the region.
        Our objectives are limited but clear: to make Saddam pay a price for
    the latest act of brutality, reducing his ability to threaten his
    neighbors and America's interests. First, we are extending the no-fly
    zone in southern Iraq. This will deny Saddam control of Iraqi airspace
    from the Kuwaiti border to the southern suburbs of Baghdad and
    significantly restrict Iraq's ability to conduct offensive operations in
    the region. Second, to protect the safety of our aircraft enforcing this
    no-fly zone, our cruise missiles struck Saddam's air defense
    capabilities in southern Iraq.
        The United States was a cosponsor of United Nations Security
    Resolution 986, which allows Iraq to sell amounts of oil to purchase
    food and medicine for its people, including the Kurds. Irbil, the city
    seized by the Iraqis, is a key distribution center for this aid. Until
    we are sure these humanitarian supplies can actually get to those who
    need them the plan cannot go forward, and the Iraqi Government will be
    denied the new resources it has been expecting.
        Saddam Hussein's objectives may change, but his methods are always
    the same: violence and aggression against the Kurds, against other
    ethnic minorities, against Iraq's neighbors. Our answer to that
    recklessness must be strong and immediate, as President Bush
    demonstrated in Operation Desert Storm, as we showed 2 years ago when
    Iraq massed its forces on Kuwait's border, and as we showed again today.
        We must make it clear that reckless acts have consequences, or those
    acts will increase. We must reduce Iraq's ability to strike out at its
    neighbors, and we must increase America's ability to contain Iraq over
    the long run. The steps we are taking today will further all those
    objectives. Time and again, Saddam Hussein has made clear his

    [[Page 1642]]

    disdain for civilized behavior. He brutalized his own people, attacked
    his neighbors, supported terrorism, and sought to acquire weapons of
    mass destruction. Our policy is equally clear. When our interest in the
    security of our friends and allies is threatened, we will act with force
    if necessary. That is what we did this morning in Iraq.
        I know the thoughts and prayers of all Americans are with our
    military men and women who are conducting this mission. God bless them
    and the Nation they are serving.
        Q.  Mr. President, why do you think that only Britain is supporting
    our move? Why have the allies all retreated from any support?
        The President. Well, I believe that--first of all, you have to ask
    them their position. But I believe that we have historically, at least
    in recent history, taken the lead in matters like this, and I think this
    was our responsibility at this time. I talked to quite a large number of
    our allies, and I am satisfied with their response. And I believe that
    we will be able to go forward with this mission, and I think others feel
    that at this time there may be, for their own domestic purposes, some
    limits on how much they can do.
        But I think it's important to move now. We have not seen any
    withdrawal of Saddam's forces from the area, and we know that he has a
    history of seeing how far he can go, taking a little and then doing a
    little more, taking a little and doing a little more. So I can only tell
    you what I believe is right and that I have done my best to cooperate
    with others.
        Q. Is this the end?
        Q. Mr. President, he appears unbowed. He says that he's not going to
    recognize the no-fly zones anymore. He says that there has been only
    minimal damage to Iraqi assets, and that he urges his troops to resist
    strikes. Is this over, or is there going to have to be more?
        The President. Well, as always with Saddam Hussein, it depends
    entirely on what he does, not on what he says but what he does. And we
    were trying to have very limited damage to human beings and trying to
    take an action which would show our resolve and would protect our planes
    as they fly in an expanded no-fly zone. That's why the targets were
    picked, to make it clear what we thought and to secure the safety of the
    planes that will be flying the expanded no-fly zone.
        Q. Mr. President, at this stage do you see any other troop movements
    that alarm you?
        The President. The present deployments and the things that we have
    seen in support of them convince me that at least he has maintained the
    potential to take further military action in the region. That is the
    problem. He said, ``Well, we took our soldiers out of Irbil.'' That's
    true, but look where they are and look what they're doing. And the
    latest reports this morning are not encouraging.
        So again, I will say to you, let's look and see what he does, and
    that is, I think, what should drive our actions. The words are not
    important; the actions are what matter.

    Note: The President spoke at 8:07 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.