Bush Redux:
Personally, I would ignore the NYT analyses after the cited paragraph. But -- YOU DECIDE. ;o}
Bush Tells Critics Hussein Could Strike at Any Time
By DAVID E. SANGER
nytimes.com
MANCHESTER, N.H., Oct. 5 — President Bush today offered a new argument for acting quickly against Iraq, saying that Saddam Hussein "has a horrible history" of striking without warning, and he emphasized that should military force be required to oust the Mr. Hussein the United States would "help the Iraqi people rebuild and form a just government."
Speaking at a rally here in New Hampshire, where he was making a political swing to bolster the Senate run of Rep. John E. Sununu, Mr. Bush stepped up his personal indictment of Mr. Hussein and made an impassioned argument for pre-emptive action.
"We cannot ignore history," the president said. "We must not ignore reality. We must do everything we can to disarm this man before he hurts one single American."
In Boston on Friday, Mr. Bush described Mr. Hussein as a "cold-blooded killer" a phrase he normally reserves for members of Al Qaeda and his comments today seemed directed at those who say the threat posed by Iraq is not imminent. On Monday night, Mr. Bush intends to address the nation on the Iraqi threat, and he was clearly toning his arguments today for that event.
His comments today about rebuilding Iraq came in his weekly radio address and echoed recent comments made by several of his aides. But it marked the first time that Mr. Bush himself had so expressly looked beyond a military conflict and toward what many experts inside and outside his administration warn will be the more difficult task of holding the country together.
"Should force be required to bring Saddam to account, the United States will work with other nations to help the Iraqi people rebuild and form a just government," Mr. Bush said in his radio address.
He added: "We have no quarrel with the Iraqi people. They are the daily victims of Saddam Hussein's oppression, and they will be the first to benefit when the world's demands are met." |
