In that speech, the President layed out the case for overthrowing the Hussein regime. He also listed a series of FIVE demands for Hussein. Had Hussein met those demands, no war would have occurred. In the spirit of your excellent thread, which is to remind people of what the President ACTUALLY said, here are those five demands.
PLEASE NOTICE THAT ONLY ONE OF THOSE DEMANDS HAD TO DO WITH WMD. The media — yes, including the so-called conservative media — keeps repeating the LIE that we attacked Iraq solely because of the WMD issue.
[BEGIN EXERPT FROM BUSH 9/12/02 UN SPEECH]
If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately and unconditionally forswear, disclose, and remove or destroy all weapons of mass destruction, long-range missiles, and all related material.
If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end all support for terrorism and act to suppress it, as all states are required to do by U.N. Security Council resolutions.
If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will cease persecution of its civilian population, including Shi'a, Sunnis, Kurds, Turkomans, and others, again as required by Security Council resolutions.
If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will release or account for all Gulf War personnel whose fate is still unknown. It will return the remains of any who are deceased, return stolen property, accept liability for losses resulting from the invasion of Kuwait, and fully cooperate with international efforts to resolve these issues, as required by Security Council resolutions.
If the Iraqi regime wishes peace, it will immediately end all illicit trade outside the oil-for-food program. It will accept U.N. administration of funds from that program, to ensure that the money is used fairly and promptly for the benefit of the Iraqi people.