SPEAKING THE TRUTH PLAINLY

On Betsy's Page, a conservative reader commented that President Bush's inarticulateness was best illustrated by the fact that he only talked about WMD as the catalyst of the Iraqi War. While I agree that W is a rather poor orator when compared to the three presidents who preceded him, I donnot agree that he was unable to articulate more than one justification for invading Iraq. That charge has been the primary route of attack against the war by the President's challengers and the Main Stream Media (MSM). The truth is, however, much different. I vividly remember President Bush's remarkable speech to the UN in 2002. In the speech, Bush enumerated to that impotent group of appeasers, to Saddam and his sons, and to the rest of the world at least five indictments against Saddam's regime:

1. 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. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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.

5. 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. If all these steps are taken, it will signal a new openness and accountability in Iraq. And it could open the prospect of the United Nations helping to build a government that represents all Iraqis -- a government based on respect for human rights, economic liberty, and internationally supervised elections.

The United States has no quarrel with the Iraqi people; they've suffered too long in silent captivity. Liberty for the Iraqi people is a great moral cause, and a great strategic goal. The people of Iraq deserve it; the security of all nations requires it. Free societies do not intimidate through cruelty and conquest, and open societies do not threaten the world with mass murder. The United States supports political and economic liberty in a unified Iraq.