Just heard on Fox news that General Franks told GWB that we are ready to go. Just awaiting the order.Michael Buffer's warming up his golden throat...
"For the millions in attendance in the arena, and the billions watching all over the world...Ladies and gentlemen...."
*wink*
Please FReepers, pray for him and our wonderful military and their families. Thank you!
But first, let me explain to you just WHY the French, German, and Russian governments opposed us. They claim that they are for peace; yet by refusing to hold Saddam to the serious consequences that the Security Council required, they made war more likely. They claim that the inspections are working; yet the inspections are not working, for Saddam has consistently refused for over twelve years now to voluntarilly, proactively, and completely cooperate with the inspectors by reporting and destroying ALL of his weapons of mass destruction. They claim that the inspectors need more time; yet, Saddam has had twelve years to comply, when he hardly would have even needed twelve weeks, and there is no evidence to indicate that more time will accomplish anything other than to give him more time to build yet more -- and more dangerous and deadly -- weapons of mass destruction. Thus, these cannot be the REAL reasons why the governments of France, Germany, and Russia have opposed us. Thanks to information obtained from our brave and hard working people in our intelligence agencies, we DO know the REAL reason for their opposition, and now I will reveal it to you.
The REAL reason that the governments of France, Germany, and Russia have opposed us is because these governments have actively aided and abetted Saddam's programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. They have made it possible for industries in thier countries to supply Saddam with the technology, and equipment, and supplies he has needed. They have violated international sanctions to do so. And they have done this so that their own industries and governments could make money -- money made at the risk of thousands, perhaps even millions of innocent human lives -- perhaps even your own.
I have asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to give a press conference shortly, in which he will provide to the world's press the full truth about this, including many incontrovertable documents proving these assertions.
It is thus clear that the real reason why the governments of France, Germany, and Russia have opposed us were not the high-sounding sentiments, but rather the most base, treacherous, and dispicible of motives. They would help Saddam to kill innocent people, just for the sake of making a few dollars. And this from nations that we formerly counted as being our friends.
We will not forget, and we will not forgive, this treachery. But neither will we stoop to their same level. But let there be no illusion: relations between the United States and France, Germany, and Russia have been damaged, and it is entirely their fault. Perhaps healing may be possible, but that will be up to them.
That can wait for the time being, however. The more pressing concern is with Iraq, which still possesses dangerous weapons of mass destruction right now, and is capable and intent on producing more. Furthermore, we cannot trust Saddam to not place these in the hands of terrorists, who could try to bring them into our own country and use them against our own people. He must be disarmed, and he must be disarmed now.
We have tried to work through the United Nations. I challenged the United Nations to not make themselves irrelevant. They failed to meet the challenge. I know that there are many of you that hoped that we could work through the United Nations. I know that there are many of you that hoped that a peaceful solution could result. I shared your hope, and did everything I could to make it a reality. But you must now understand that due to this treachery on the part of the French, German, and Russian governments, it is now clear that these governments had become utterly corrupted and hopelessly compromised, to the point that effective, relevant action by the Security Council is now hopeless. This dissapoints me more than any other person on our planet, but we must now face up to facts, and get on with what needs to be done.
And what needs to be done now is to proceed to disarm Saddam Hussein. His time is up. In fact, it was up while I have been speaking to you. I can therefore now announce to you that our brave men and women in uniform have already commenced operations in Iraq. As we speak, they are moving swiftly under cover of darkness to disable Iraq's armed forces, destroy their weapons of mass destruction, and detain Saddam Hussein and his band of thugs. Our men and women in uniform need all of our prayers, and all of our support, and I trust that you will join with me as a united people in seeking God's blessing on them, on this righteous cause, and on these United States of America.
Good night."
What would it take on Saddam's part to delay the action? See it from Saddam's point of view: his main motivation for any tactic is stall time. Every new situation presents a new opportunity to stall some more. I'd expect a 48-hour "ultimatum" to be no exception. So, what could Saddam do? If his knew he had 48 hours, his first move would try to make that 72 hours. Once he got that, he'd go for another week, etc.
Might he give a speech saying, "Okay, I give... I'll disarm", and then give up on some other non-consequential missile? Might he say, although he has no more WMD's, he justtoday found these scud launchers...?
What could he do in the ultimatum period to postpone the end of it?