What's the motive?
Study in Adult Education
and Peace at UNE
last updated 9/4/03
Motives?
Spin
http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/index.html
accessed 30/03/2003
"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."
(President Bush, Address to the Nation, 3/17/03 )
For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime have failed because we are not dealing with peaceful men.
The Iraqi regime continues to conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. It has used weapons of mass destruction. It has a history of reckless aggression and a deep hatred for America and our friends. And it has aided terrorists, including al-Qaida. Using chemical, biological, or one day, nuclear weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, terrorists could kill thousands, or more.
The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat, but we will do everything to defeat it.
The UN Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and immediately disarm. Today, no nation claims that Iraq has disarmed.
Some permanent members of the Security Council announced they would veto any resolution that compels disarmament. The Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities – so we will rise to ours.
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know every measure has been taken to avoid war – and every measure will be taken to win it.
In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars of aggression against neighbors … no more poison factories … no more executions of dissidents … no more torture chambers and rape rooms.
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. Free nations have a duty to defend our people by uniting against the violent. America and our allies accept that responsibility.