President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours

1. President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation (March 17, 2003).George W. Bush

2. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Background: After Iraq invaded and annexed Kuwait, the U.S. in August 1990 President Bush appeared before a joint session of Congress on September 11, 1990 and announced that Saddam Hussein aggression would not stand. After a brief war, Iraq was defeated and Kuwait liberated. However, Saddam Hussein remained in power. A condition of the peace treaty signed with Hussein was that Iraq must disarm. Hussein violated the treaty and UN Resolutions on multiple occasions, choosing instead to conceal its weapon programs and defense capabilities from United Nations weapons inspections. On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda attacked destroyed New York’s World Trade Center, killing some three thousand innocent victims.

3. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Main Points: • Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction, even though they pledge to reveal and destroy them as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War of 1991. Iraq also harbors terrorists, including al Qaeda. • FEAR: The United Nation’s Security Council has failed to live up to its responsibilities to Saddam Hussein, but we must confront him to avoid the danger of Iraq giving terrorists chemical, biological or nuclear weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of people in our country. • ULTIMATUM: If Saddam Hussein and his sons do not leave Iraq within 48 hours, the United States will attack Iraq.

4. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Main Points: • “I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services, if war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life.”  • The American people should feel assured. Our government is taking action to protect our homeland. • After the United States removes Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi people “can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation. “[T]he greatest power of freedom is to overcome hatred and violence, and turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits of peace.”

5. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Questions: In the speech, President Bush stated, “The security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.” Were sanctions insufficient? The dangerous regimes of Iran and North Korea were arguably further along in developing weapons of mass destruction. What made Iraq different so as to require immediate disarmament? Bush stated, “…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.” Has this happened? If not, why has this not happened?

6. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Historical Significance: Bush launched the long-anticipated invasion of Iraq on March 19, 2003. Saddam Hussein’s vaunted military machine collapsed almost immediately. In less than a month, Baghdad had fallen. Some nine months later, Hussein was captured. Contrary to rosy predictions that the democracy would blossom in Iraq after the removal of Hussein, Iraq became a seething cauldron of apparently endless violence. Iraqi factions jockeyed murderously for political position in the post-Saddam era. Iraqi insurgents, aided by militants drawn from other Islamic nations, repeatedly attacked American troops, killing more soldiers during the occupation than during the invasion itself. Meanwhile, the invasion and subsequent unrest claimed the lives of as many as 17,000 Iraqi civilians. By many accounts, Iraq today is near the brink of civil war. Arguably, U.S. military in Iraq is now in the difficult position of being both a catalyst for the insurgency and the only force keeping the country from outright civil war. The United States’ image in many quarters around the world has been further tarnished by the preemptive strike against Iraq. Revelations in April 2004 about American abuse of Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison have further inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq and beyond. Nevertheless, most Iraqis are not actively fighting the U.S., and instead desire peace and security. The number of newspapers in Iraq has increased, and so too has the number of Iraqi policemen and government soldiers. Meanwhile, many Iraqi politicians are struggling to resolve deep-seated enmities and create a viable democratic government. Source: The American Pageant, 13th edition, pp. 1005-1006.

7. Documented civilian deaths from violence 77,847 – 84,812 Deaths in each week from 2003–2007 Deaths per day from gunfire / executions Deaths per day from vehicle bombs

8. Refugees from Iraq have increased in number since the US-led invasion into Iraq in March 2003. An estimated 1.6-2.0 million people have fled the country. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimated in a report released in November 2006 that more than 1.6 million Iraqis had left Iraq since March 2003, nearly 7 percent of the total population. The BBC on 22 January 2007 placed the refugee figure at 2 million. Many Iraqis are leaving their country. http://costofwar.com/index-world-hunger.html

9. Bush: President Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours Historical Significance: In Iran, a backlash response to the United States’ invasion of Iraq has resulted in the defeat of a more liberal-leaning government and the rise to power of a radical conservative government that has aggressively decided to develop nuclear weapons.

10. Mohammad Khatami President of Iran from 1997-2005

11. BACKLASH IN IRAN: On 24 June 2005 Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad [mah-MOOD ah-mah-dih-nee-ZHAHD ] was elected as Iran's president. Ahmadinejad swept to the presidential post with a stunning 17,046,441 votes out of a total of 27,536,069 votes cast in the runoff election. His rival and Expediency Council Chairman Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gained only 9,841,346. Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani Iran's nuclear chief said that Iran has enriched uranium up to 4.8 percent — the upper end of the range needed to make fuel for reactors — as it continues to defy U.S. and European demands to stop enrichment.