_______________________________________________________________ | | Foreign Policy In Focus Policy Report: An Annotated Critique | of President George W. Bush's March 17 Address Preparing the | Nation for War | http://propaganda.lege.net/an_annotated_critique/ | | | FPIF Policy Report | March 2003 | An Annotated Critique of President George W. Bush's March 17 | Address Preparing the Nation for War | By Stephen Zunes | Stephen Zunes is an associate professor of | politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at | the University of San Francisco. He is Middle East editor | for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project (online at fpif.org | [ http://fpif.org/ ]) and author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle | East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage: | 2002), which can be ordered from FPIF at the | Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC, online at | irc-online.org [ http://irc-online.org/ ]). | | PRiraqspresp.pdf [ | http://presentdanger.org/pdf/reports/PRiraqspresp.pdf ] | | | An Annotated Critique: | President George W. Bush's March 17 Address | Preparing the Nation for War | | Stephen Zunes | March 2003 | | | (Editors' Note: Below is a transcript of President George W. | Bush's address to the nation on Monday, March 17, announcing | his readiness to order a U.S. invasion of Iraq followed by | an analysis highlighting some of the lies and misleading | statements in the speech. Such an overview is necessary | since the Democratic Party leadership in Congress, which has | pledged to support the president in the event of war, | declined to take their traditional opportunity to offer a | formal response. The Green Party, which opposes the war, was | not given the opportunity by the networks to respond.) | | | | "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." | | This is patently false. In 1998, President Bill Clinton | successfully pressured UNSCOM director Richard Butler to | withdraw inspectors without authorization from the Secretary | General or the Security Council--before their mission was | complete--in order to engage in a four-day heavy bombing | campaign against Iraq. As predicted at the time, this | illegal use of military force--combined with revelations | that the United States had abused the inspections process | for espionage purposes--resulted in the Iraqi government | barring the inspectors' return until a reorganized | inspections commission known as UNMOVIC commenced | inspections last year. UNMOVIC chairman Hans Blix and UN | Secretary General Kofi Annan explicitly called upon the | United States and the international community to give the | inspectors more time to do their job, noting that it would | take a number of months before their mission could be | completed. | | | "That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons | of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian | Gulf War in 1991." | | Iraq was presented with this demand as part of UN Security | Council resolution 687, which mandated Iraqi disarmament of | its weapons of mass destruction and related delivery | systems. This was a unilateral decree from the Security | Council which--while nominally part of the ceasefire | agreement--was void of any explicit threat to continue | prosecuting the war if Iraq did not agree to the disarmament | provisions. It is noteworthy that the demand for Iraqi | disarmament in the resolution was put forward within the | context of a call for regional disarmament. The United | States has refused to encourage any regional disarmament | initiative, however, and remains a strong supporter of the | Israeli and Pakistani governments, which have advanced | nuclear arsenals among other weapons of mass destruction. | | | "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." | | Iraq's cooperation has indeed been less than total, but most | independent reports--even during UNSCOM's inspections regime | between 1991 and 1998--conclude that cooperation was close | to 90%. According to UNMOVIC, Iraq's cooperation since | inspections resumed last year has been far better. | | | "Over the years, UN weapon inspectors have been threatened | by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged, and | systematically deceived." | | This was not an uncommon practice during the UNSCOM era, but | there have been no reports from UNMOVIC of such harassment | subsequently. | | | "Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed | again and again--because we are not dealing with peaceful | men." | | Peaceful efforts at disarming Iraq have succeeded in | eliminating somewhere between 95% and 100% of Iraq's weapons | of mass destruction and related materiel and delivery | systems as a result of UN Security Council resolution 687 | and subsequent resolutions. The determination to go to war | despite such success raises serious questions as to whether | the United States is governed by 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." | | If the United States really has evidence that the Iraqi | government continues to possess and conceal weapons of mass | destruction, why has the Bush administration refused to make | such evidence public or pass such intelligence on to United | Nations inspectors, who have the authority to destroy them? | | | "This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction | against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people." | | Iraq did use chemical weapons against Iranian troops and | Kurdish civilians back in the 1980s when Saddam Hussein's | regime was being supported by the United States. The Reagan | administration covered up for the Halabja massacre and | similar attacks against Kurdish civilians by falsely | claiming that it was the Iranians--then the preferred | enemy--who were responsible. In addition, the U.S. Defense | Intelligence Agency provided Iraq with U.S. satellite data | to help Saddam Hussein's forces locate Iranian troop | concentrations in the full knowledge that they were using | chemical weapons. Many of the key components of Iraq's | chemical weapons program came from the United States, | ostensibly for pesticides as part of taxpayer-funded | agricultural subsidies, despite evidence that these | U.S.-manufactured chemicals were probably being diverted for | use in illegal chemical weapons. | | | "The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the | Middle East." | | This is true, though Iraq's invasion of Iran in 1980 was | quietly supported by the U.S. government and ambivalent | signals by the U.S. ambassador to Iraq immediately prior to | the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait may have emboldened Saddam | Hussein to conquer the sheikdom in 1990. Now, with Iraq's | offensive military capability just a fraction of what is was | during that period and an unambiguous resolve by the | international community to thwart such future aggression, | there is little chance of Iraq invading another country | again. | | | "It has a deep hatred of America and our friends." | | Iraq willingly accepted U.S. support during the 1980s. The | more belligerent posture of recent years is largely a result | of the U.S. destruction of much of the country's military | and civilian infrastructure in the 1991 Gulf War, which was | supported by a number of other Middle Eastern states with | which Iraq had also once collaborated and been on friendly | terms. Subsequent U.S.-led sanctions, periodic bombing | raids, and invasion threats have resulted in widespread | suffering of the population that has intensified | anti-American sentiment. Had the United States adopted a | more enlightened policy, such deep hatred would likely have | not developed. | | | "And it has aided, trained, and harbored terrorists, | including operatives of al Qaeda." | | Every independent investigation of every Bush administration | claim of a connection between the secular Iraqi government | and the Islamist al Qaeda network has found no evidence of | any Iraqi aid, training, or harboring of al Qaeda | terrorists. According to both published U.S. government | reports and independent analyses, Iraq's support for | international terrorism--which has always been restricted to | secular nationalists like the radical Palestinian Abu Nidal | faction--peaked in the 1980s. | | | "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 Bush administration has failed to present any evidence | that Iraq has the intention to pass on weapons of mass | destruction to terrorists, an act that would inevitably lead | to a U.S.-led invasion, only in this case with the support | of the international community. This is the essence of | deterrence, which protected the United States and its allies | from Josef Stalin, Mao Zedung, and other leaders as | tyrannical and far more powerful militarily than Saddam | Hussein. And no country has the right to invade another on | some far-fetched scenario that they might do something | someday. Ironically, as the CIA has noted in a report | released this past October, Saddam Hussein would not likely | use WMDs as a first strike, but in the case of a U.S. | invasion--with nothing to lose and the logic of deterrence | no longer in effect--would be far more likely to use | whatever WMDs he may possess. In other words, a U.S. | invasion, rather than preventing the use of weapons of mass | destruction, would be the most likely--and the only | realistic--scenario that such horrible weapons would be | utilized. | | | "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." | | The oath of office also demands that the president uphold | and defend the Constitution of the United States, which | forbids such an illegal use of force. Virtually no | international legal authority recognizes such an invasion as | an act of assuring legitimate national security interests. | | | "Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States | Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to support the use | of force against Iraq." | | The U.S. Congress--with the support of both the Republican | and Democratic leadership--did authorize the use of force | against Iraq. However, the resolution violates Article I, | Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution which does not allow | Congress to grant such open-ended warmaking authority to the | president for an offensive military action. Only a formal | declaration of war in such a situation can be considered | legitimate. Furthermore, Article VI of the Constitution | declares that international treaties to which the United | States is a party are to be treated as supreme law, thereby | proscribing Congress from passing any resolution that | violates the UN Charter, such as supporting an invasion of a | sovereign nation. As a result, this resolution is | unconstitutional and thereby invalid. | | | "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." | | Then why is the United States violating the UN Charter, | which forbids the use of military force unless a country | finds itself under armed attack or it is explicitly | authorized by the UN Security Council? The mission of the | United Nations is to preserve international peace and | security, not to approve the invasion of one country by | another. | | | "One reason the UN 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." | | The United States refused to confront Saddam Hussein active | and early when he was committing acts of aggression against | Iranians and Kurds and opposed decisive action by the United | Nations. Iraq's ability to attack the innocent and destroy | the peace has already been reduced dramatically through a | series of actions by the United Nations, including | authorizing the use of force to remove Iraqi occupation | forces from Kuwait, placing strict military sanctions | against the dictatorship, and overseeing the most aggressive | unilateral disarmament effort and inspections regime in | history. | | | "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." | | The assertion that resolutions 678 and 687 give the United | States the right to invade Iraq is patently false. | Resolution 678 authorized the use of force to enforce prior | UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Iraq remove | its occupation forces from Kuwait. Once that was | accomplished in late February 1991, the resolution became | moot. Resolution 687 called for Iraqi disarmament of weapons | of mass destruction and related delivery systems, but--even | though it was the most detailed resolution in the history of | the United Nations--no enforcement mechanism was specified. | According to United Nations Charter, such resolutions can be | enforced militarily only if the Security Council as a whole | recognizes that a country is in material breach, determines | that all non-military means have been exhausted, and | specifically authorizes the use of force. The Security | Council has not done so subsequent to the passage of | resolution 678 in late November 1990. | | | "Last September, I went to the UN 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." | | True, but it did not authorize the use of force. Article 14 | of that resolution specifically noted that the Security | Council would "remain seized of the matter," reiterating | that only the Security Council as a whole--not any one | member state--has the power to determine whether military | force can be legitimately utilized to enforce its | resolution. | | | "Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has | disarmed." | | There actually are some nations that believe that Iraq has | disarmed under the resolutions. Though this is not likely | the case, the Bush administration has been unable to present | clear evidence to the contrary. | | | "And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds | power." | | This is sheer speculation. As a dictator who has proven his | desire to ruthlessly hold on to power at all costs, he very | well could disarm to save his regime. However, the Bush | administration has made clear its intention to invade | anyway, thereby providing little incentive for Saddam | Hussein to do so. | | | "For the last four-and-a-half months, the United States and | our allies have worked within the Security Council to | enforce that Council's long-standing 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." | | Actually, most Security Council members do not believe that | Iraq is the imminent threat that the United States claims it | to be, though, if convincing evidence were presented that | Iraq indeed posed a threat to international peace and | security, a clear majority of the Security | Council--including France--have indicated their willingness | to authorize the use of force. A veto of the proposed | U.S.-sponsored resolution by France, Russia, and China would | probably not have been necessary since the United States was | unable--despite enormous pressure, including promises of | increased foreign aid, trade preferences, and other | incentives--to convince a simple majority of nations on the | Council that it was necessary to take the unprecedented step | of authorizing the United States to invade Iraq, overthrow | the government, and replace it with one more to its liking. | | | "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." | | There is nothing close to the broad coalition such as that | which joined the United States in ridding Iraqi occupation | forces from Kuwait in 1991, when Iraq clearly did constitute | a threat to peace. As of this writing, only one major power | (Great Britain) and two minor powers (Spain and Australia) | have offered to send troops. All three of these governments | are doing so contrary to the sentiments of the vast majority | of their population and their combined participation still | leaves the United States contributing at least 85% of combat | forces. As columnist Maureen Dowd noted, since the Bush | administration has driven virtually everyone from the | schoolyard, it now has to rely on imaginary friends. | | | "The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its | responsibilities, so we will rise to ours." | | In reality, the United Nations Security Council has gone to | extraordinary efforts to minimize any threat to peace from | Iraq, including authorizing the use of force in 1990 to | enforce resolutions requiring an Iraqi withdrawal from | occupied Kuwait, the imposition of strict sanctions against | Iraq, and the creation of an inspections regime that has | been largely--if not 100%--effective. By contrast, it is not | the responsibility of the United States or any country to | invade a sovereign nation when it feels like it. | | | "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." | | President Bush has no authorization to demand that United | Nations inspectors or foreign nationals leave Iraq. Nor does | he have the right to demand that Saddam Hussein and his sons | leave their country. No Security Council resolutions require | that Saddam Hussein resign or that he and any other member | of his family go into exile. And neither the United States | nor any other country has the right to commence an invasion | of another country at the time of its choosing. | | | "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." | | It is highly likely that a major U.S. military | campaign--particularly one with such a heavy reliance on air | power and the determination to seize by force a capital city | of over five million people--will result in the deaths of | thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians. | | | "As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver | the food and medicine you need." | | In large part as a result of the U.S.-led sanctions, there | are already severe shortages of food and medicines in Iraq. | Strict and mostly equitable rationing have left few Iraqi | families with more than a couple of days' worth of food in | storage. It is unlikely that the United States will be able | to supply most Iraqis with the food and medicine they need | in any timely manner. | | | "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 fact that the United States has supported scores of | regimes--including a number in the Middle East--that have | tortured, raped, and murdered dissidents raises serious | questions as to whether the Bush administration really | supports a free Iraq. The Bush administration's ongoing | support of Moroccan occupation forces in Western Sahara, | Turkish occupation forces in northern Cyprus, and Israeli | occupation forces in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the | Golan Heights raises serious questions as to whether the | United States is actually bothered by countries that commit | acts of aggression against neighbors. The United States also | supports a number of Middle Eastern countries that are | believed to have developed chemical weapons, similarly | raising questions as to whether the Bush administration is | really worried about "poison factories." | | | "The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is | near." | | Most Iraqis would certainly welcome the end of Saddam | Hussein's regime. But it is highly questionable whether a | Western nation that has already wrought enormous suffering | for the Iraqi people, invades the country, and installs one | of its own generals as a provisional military governor will | be seen as an act of liberation or a foreign occupation. | | | "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." | | First, it is hard to imagine any national army--even under | the most ruthless of dictators--that would not resist a | foreign invasion. Second, if the United States knows where | these alleged weapons of mass destruction are located, why | haven't U.S. government officials informed UNMOVIC | inspectors, who have the authority to destroy them? | | | "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 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 action. 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"." | | The United States has actively undermined and refused to | participate in the International Criminal Court, which was | designed to try and punish war criminals like Saddam | Hussein. As a result, any such trials will likely be under | the tutelage of an occupying American army, which will be | seen by the vast majority of the international community as | illegitimate. For a foreign occupation army to try and | punish leaders of an internationally recognized | government--however reprehensible they may be--is in itself | a war crime and would make these thugs martyrs in the eyes | of much of the world. | | | "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." | | Refusing an illegitimate order by a foreign government to | surrender power is not choosing confrontation. And, clearly, | the Bush administration has not taken "every measure to | avoid war." | | | "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." | | Then why prosecute an unnecessary and illegal war? | | | "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." | | According to the CIA and other estimates, Iraq has not | engaged in any anti-American terrorism since the alleged | 1993 assassination attempt against former President George | Bush and has already dramatically reduced its support for | international terrorism since the 1980s, when the United | States was supporting his government. By contrast, most | intelligence analyses predict an increase in the terrorist | threat to America and its allies should the United States | invade Iraq. | | | "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." | | The chances of the United States being attacked will be | greatly increased if the U.S. attacks first. Indeed, if | there was any logic behind the madness of 9/11, it was Osama | bin Laden's hope that the United States would react in such | a way that would only increase the popularity of | anti-American extremists. History has shown that the more | the United States has militarized the Middle East, the less | secure we have become. | | | "We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be | far greater. In one year, or five 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." | | Iraq has never threatened to attack the United States nor | does it have the ability to attack the United States. That | country became a formidable military threat back in the | 1980s as a result of support from industrialized nations | like the U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia. | With a strict military embargo imposed upon the country | since 1990, it will be extremely difficult for Iraq to | become a military threat to the United States or any other | country. | | | "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." | | The analogy with Hitler's Germany and other Axis powers is | spurious. Germany was the most powerful industrialized | country in the world in the 1930s. Iraq, by contrast, is a | poor, third-world country that has had most of its military | infrastructure destroyed and has been under the strictest | military and economic sanctions in world history. The | current UN policy of inspections, sanctions, and the threat | of UN-sanctioned war if Iraq again threatens its neighbors | can hardly be considered "appeasement." None of the Axis | powers of the 1930s were ever subjected to such | international pressure until they had invaded and occupied | dozens of nations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Iraq has not | invaded and occupied any countries since its six-month | occupation of Kuwait in 1990-91. | | | "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." | | Essentially, President Bush is saying that a country has the | right to invade and occupy another country without any | evidence that the targeted country has the intention, | willingness, or ability to strike first. This would give | virtually any country the right to invade any other. Most of | Iraq's neighbors do not consider Iraq to be a threat, either | now or in the perceivable future. | | | "As we enforce the just demands of the world, we will also | honor the deepest commitments of our country." | | Violating the U.S. Constitution and international legal | covenants to which the U.S. government is legally bound is, | in reality, a dishonor to the deepest commitments of the | United States. | | | "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." | | If the United States really believes the Iraqi people are | deserving and capable of human liberty, then why did the | U.S. support Saddam Hussein during the height of his terror? | And why are the leading candidates the United States hopes | to install in Baghdad to replace the current dictatorship | lacking anything remotely resembling democratic credentials? | | | "The United States, with other countries, will work to | advance liberty and peace in that region." | | Then why does the United States support dictatorships in | Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and | other autocratic regimes? And why does the United States | support Moroccan, Israeli, and Turkish occupation forces? | Such policies belie any claim of support for liberty and | peace. | | | "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." | | To unleash bombs and missiles on cities, to engage in | war-mongering, and to lie to the American people and the | world in order to rationalize such an invasion is itself a | form of hatred and violence. | | | "That is the future we choose. Free nations have a duty to | defend our people by uniting 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." | | And may God forgive President Bush and the congressional | leaders of both parties who are responsible for unleashing | such horrific violence against the people of Iraq. | | _ _ _ | | Stephen Zunes is an associate professor of | politics and chair of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at | the University of San Francisco. He is Middle East editor | for the Foreign Policy in Focus Project (online at fpif.org | [ http://fpif.org/ ]) and author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle | East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage: | 2002), which can be ordered from FPIF at the | Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC, online at | irc-online.org [ http://irc-online.org/ ]). | | | Published by Foreign Policy In Focus (FPIF), a joint | project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center (IRC) and | the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). ©2003. All rights | reserved. | | | Recommended Citation | Steven Zunes, ``An Annotated Critique of President George W. | Bush's March 17 Address Preparing the Nation for War,'' | (Silver City, NM & Washington, DC: Foreign Policy In Focus, | March 2003). | | Web Address | http://presentdanger.org/papers/iraqspresp.html | Production Information | Writer: Stephen Zunes | Editors: Tom Barry, IRC and John Gershman, IRC | Layout: Tonya Cannariato | | This page was last modified on Monday, March 24, 2003 5:35 | PM | Contact the IRC's webmaster regarding the functionality of | this website. | Copyright © 2002 IRC and IPS. All rights reserved. | | | (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this | material is distributed without profit to those who have | expressed a prior interest in receiving the included | information for research and educational purposes.) |______________________________________________________________