Transcript of Presidential Radio
Address March 15 to the Nation
WASHINGTON, March 15 /U.S. Newswire/ --
Following is a transcript
of President Bush's weekly radio address to the
nation:
THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This weekend
marks a bitter
anniversary for the people of Iraq. Fifteen years ago, Saddam
Hussein's regime ordered a chemical weapons attack on a village in
Iraq
called Halabja. With that single order, the regime killed
thousands of
Iraq's Kurdish citizens. Whole families died while
trying to flee clouds of
nerve and mustard agents descending from
the sky. Many who managed to
survive still suffer from cancer,
blindness, respiratory diseases,
miscarriages, and severe birth
defects among their children.
The chemical attack on Halabja -- just
one of 40 targeted at Iraq's
own people -- provided a glimpse of the crimes
Saddam Hussein is
willing to commit, and the kind of threat he now presents
to the
entire world. He is among history's cruelest dictators, and he is
arming himself with the world's most terrible weapons.
Recognizing this threat, the United
Nations Security Council
demanded that Saddam Hussein give up all his
weapons of mass
destruction as a condition for ending the Gulf War 12 years
ago.
The Security Council has repeated this demand numerous times and
warned that Iraq faces serious consequences if it fails to comply.
Iraq
has responded with defiance, delay and deception.
The United States, Great Britain and
Spain continue to work with
fellow members of the U.N. Security Council to
confront this common
danger. We have seen far too many instances in the past
decade --
from Bosnia, to Rwanda, to Kosovo -- where the failure of the
Security Council to act decisively has led to tragedy. And we must
recognize that some threats are so grave -- and their potential
consequences so terrible -- that they must be removed, even if it
requires military force.
As diplomatic efforts continue, we must
never lose sight of the
basic facts about the regime of Baghdad.
We know from recent history that Saddam
Hussein is a reckless
dictator who has twice invaded his neighbors without
provocation --
wars that led to death and suffering on a massive scale. We
know
from human rights groups that dissidents in Iraq are tortured,
imprisoned and sometimes just disappear; their hands, feet and
tongues
are cut off; their eyes are gouged out; and female
relatives are raped in
their presence.
As the Nobel laureate and Holocaust
survivor, Elie Wiesel, said
this week, "We have a moral obligation to
intervene where evil is
in control. Today, that place is Iraq."
We know from prior weapons inspections
that Saddam has failed to
account for vast quantities of biological and
chemical agents,
including mustard agent, botulinum toxin and sarin, capable
of
killing millions of people. We know the Iraqi regime finances and
sponsors terror. And we know the regime has plans to place innocent
people around military installations to act as human shields.
There is little reason to hope that
Saddam Hussein will disarm. If
force is required to disarm him, the American
people can know that
our armed forces have been given every tool and every
resource to
achieve victory. The people of Iraq can know that every effort
will
be made to spare innocent life, and to help Iraq recover from three
decades of totalitarian rule. And plans are in place to provide
Iraqis
with massive amounts of food, as well as medicine and other
essential
supplies, in the event of hostilities.
Crucial days lie ahead for the free
nations of the world.
Governments are now showing whether their stated
commitments to
liberty and security are words alone -- or convictions
they're
prepared to act upon. And for the government of the United States
and the coalition we lead, there is no doubt: we will confront a
growing
danger, to protect ourselves, to remove a patron and
protector of terror,
and to keep the peace of the world.
Thank you for
listening.
