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| Axis of Evil |
| US Will Liberate Iraq, Says Bush |
| 2003-01-03 |
| US President George W Bush rallied US troops on Friday, telling them that a war in Iraq would be "not to conquer but to liberate". He urged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to "end his defiance" of UN resolutions and avoid US-led military action. President Bush told cheering soldiers at Fort Hood in Texas - the largest US Army base - that America was winning its war on terror around the world. He said terrorists were "nothing but a bunch of cold blooded killers and that's the way we are going to treat them". "Terrorists will not be stopped by mercy or by conscience, but they will be stopped," he said. "They will be stopped by the will and might of the United States." He said America was confronting the threat of "outlaw regimes" that sought weapons of mass destruction. Referring to North Korea, which has threatened to restart its nuclear programme, he said the world had to speak with one voice to "turn it away from its nuclear ambitions". Mr Bush said the world had already spoken with one voice on Iraq, but President Saddam Hussein had "chosen the path of defiance". He described the Iraqi regime as a threat to America and to its friends. "Saddam Hussein was given a path to peace, thus far he has chosen the path of defiance. "He knows what he must do to avoid conflict. Even now he could end his defiance - he has that choice to make. "We prefer voluntary compliance from Iraq. Force is our last choice but if force becomes necessary to disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction... to secure our country and to keep the peace, America will act deliberately, America will act decisively, and America will prevail because we've got the finest military in the world." He added: "Should Saddam seal his fate by refusing to disarm, by ignoring the opinion of the world, you will be fighting not to conquer anybody but to liberate people." Let's Roll! |
| Posted by:Steve |