[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 12 (Monday, March 24, 2003)]
[Pages 338-341]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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

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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 the U.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 longstanding 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

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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

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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. in the Cross Hall at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. 
The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.