George W. Bush: Address to the Nation on Military Operations in Iraq

Explanation and Analysis of the Documents

Following the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the Bush administration accused the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein of having an ongoing program for weapons of mass destruction, of supporting terrorism, and of violating a range of United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions enacted in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. American leaders also decried the dictatorial nature of the regime and its brutal suppression of the Iraqi people. Through the fall of 2002 the administration conducted a diplomatic offensive to gain international support for military action to depose Hussein. The administration's efforts resulted in the unanimous passage of UN Security Resolution 1441, which affirmed that Iraq had been in “material breach” of past resolutions and initiated a new weapons inspection program. Through the winter, the inspectors met with mixed compliance and evasion by the regime. Efforts to gain a second UN resolution to explicitly authorize the use of force failed, though some members of the Bush administration argued that previous violations by Iraq made an additional UN resolution unnecessary. The diplomatic effort created fissures with some of America's closest allies, although domestically, polls indicated that support for military action against Iraq reached more than 70 percent in 2003.

On March 19, 2003, Bush went on television to explain to the American people why the United States was launching military strikes against Iraq, which officially began the following day. Bush opens the address by declaring that the war was being initiated “to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger.” To counter criticism that the conflict lacked international support, Bush notes that the U.S.-led anti–Saddam Hussein coalition included thirty-five nations (although at first only the United States, Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom contributed troops to the invasion force).

For several lines, the commander in chief speaks directly to the men and women of the U.S. military. He praises the professionalism of the military and its dedication to the principles that marked the ideology of the United States. Bush tells the men and women of the service that “the peace of a troubled world and the hopes of an oppressed people now depend on you.” He assures the American people that every effort would be undertaken to prevent the unnecessary loss of civilian life. He further declares that the United States had no territorial ambitions in Iraq. Rather, the United States sought only to remove a tyrannical regime and bring freedom to the Iraqi people. The president pledges to use overwhelming force to end the conflict quickly.

The address was short and direct. Bush appeared somber and delivered the speech in a determined yet measured fashion. The U.S.-led coalition indeed quickly overran the country and toppled the Iraqi regime. On May 1, 2003, from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, Bush declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq. However, an anti-U.S. insurgency was spreading through many areas of the country. While only 140 U.S. troops were killed in the initial invasion (through May), by 2008 more than four thousand U.S. servicemen and servicewomen had been killed in Iraq. Meanwhile, the war became increasingly unpopular in the United States. Many criticized Bush for declaring an end to combat far too early and for underestimating the number of troops needed to conclude the conflict. Furthermore, subsequent inspections failed to produce any Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, undermining one of the central justifications for the invasion. By 2008 only about one-third of Americans continued to support the war.