'God's Gift To Humanity'

... This nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of internationalterrorism.

There are days when our fellow citizens do not hear news about the war on terror. There's never a day whenI do not learn of another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order in thisglobal war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we are winning. 

To date, we've arrested or otherwise dealt with many key commanders of al Qaeda. They include a man whodirected logistics and funding for the September the 11th attacks; the chief of al Qaeda operations in thePersian Gulf, who planned the bombings of our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole; an al Qaedaoperations chief from Southeast Asia; a former director of al Qaeda's training camps in Afghanistan; a key alQaeda operative in Europe; a major al Qaeda leader in Yemen. All told, more than 3,000 suspected terroristshave been arrested in many countries. Many others have met a different fate. Let's put it this way -- they areno longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies. (Applause.)

We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks. America and coalition countries haveuncovered and stopped terrorist conspiracies targeting the American embassy in Yemen, the American embassy inSingapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits the Gibraltar. We've brokenal Qaeda cells in Hamburg, Milan, Madrid, London, Paris, as well as, Buffalo, New York.

We have the terrorists on the run. We're keeping them on the run. One by one, the terrorists are learningthe meaning of American justice. 

As we fight this war, we will remember where it began -- here, in our own country. This government istaking unprecedented measures to protect our people and defend our homeland. We've intensified security at theborders and ports of entry, posted more than 50,000 newly-trained federal screeners in airports, beguninoculating troops and first responders against smallpox, and are deploying the nation's first early warningnetwork of sensors to detect biological attack. And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field adefense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles. 

I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. I ask you tonight to add to our future security with amajor research and production effort to guard our people against bioterrorism, called Project Bioshield. Thebudget I send you will propose almost $6 billion to quickly make available effective vaccines and treatmentsagainst agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola, and plague. We must assume that our enemies would usethese diseases as weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us. 

Since September the 11th, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have worked more closely than everto track and disrupt the terrorists. The FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and istransforming itself to meet new threats. Tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, the CIA, theHomeland Security, and the Department of Defense to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to mergeand analyze all threat information in a single location. Our government must have the very best informationpossible, and we will use it to make sure the right people are in the right places to protect all ourcitizens.

Our war against terror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. In the ruins of two towers, atthe western wall of the Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this nation made a pledge, and we renew thatpledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle, and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit thetriumph of violence in the affairs of men -- free people will set the course of history. 

Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlawregimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weaponsfor blackmail, terror, and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to terrorist allies, whowould use them without the least hesitation.

This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seizedcontrol of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate theworld. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions ofHitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of greatalliances, and by the might of the United States of America. 

Now, in this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again, and seeks to gain theultimate weapons of terror. Once again, this nation and all our friends are all that stand between a world atpeace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people,and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility. 

America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these dangers. We have called on the UnitedNations to fulfill its charter and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We're strongly supporting theInternational Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world.We're working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, and to strengthenglobal treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction.

In all these efforts, however, America's purpose is more than to follow a process -- it is to achieve aresult: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world. All free nations have a stake in preventing suddenand catastrophic attacks. And we're asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of thisnation does not depend on the decisions of others.  Whatever action is required, whenever action isnecessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people. 

Different threats require different strategies. In Iran, we continue to see a government that represses itspeople, pursues weapons of mass destruction, and supports terror. We also see Iranian citizens riskingintimidation and death as they speak out for liberty and human rights and democracy. Iranians, like allpeople, have a right to choose their own government and determine their own destiny -- and the United Statessupports their aspirations to live in freedom. (Applause.)

On the Korean Peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Throughout the1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. Wenow know that that regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And today the NorthKorean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will notbe blackmailed.

America is working with the countries of the region -- South Korea, Japan, China, and Russia -- to find apeaceful solution, and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation,economic stagnation, and continued hardship. (Applause.) The North Korean regime will find respect in theworld and revival for its people only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions.

Our nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greaterthreat to rise up in Iraq. A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism,with great potential wealth, will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States.

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started andlost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. For the next 12 years, hesystematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, even whileinspectors were in his country. Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons -- noteconomic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his militaryfacilities.

Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance todisarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world. The 108U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct -- were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials acrossa country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming. Itis up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world tosee, and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened.

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for thatmaterial. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hadn'taccounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons ofsarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands.He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of deliveringchemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them -- despite Iraq's recent declaration denying theirexistence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's givenno evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weaponslabs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents, and can be moved from place to a place to evadeinspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He's given no evidence that he has destroyedthem.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclearweapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods ofenriching uranium for a bomb. The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently soughtsignificant quantities of uranium from Africa. Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted topurchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production. Saddam Hussein has not crediblyexplained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary; he is deceiving. From intelligence sources we know,for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from theU.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves. Iraqi officialsaccompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses.

Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations. Iraqi intelligence officers areposing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqiofficials on what to say. Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists whocooperate with U.N. inspectors in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.

Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks tobuild and keep weapons of mass destruction. But why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use hecould have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate, or attack.

With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume hisambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region. And this Congress and theAmerica people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications, andstatements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including membersof al Qaeda. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, orhelp them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemicalagents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained. Imagine those 19 hijackerswith other weapons and other plans -- this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister,one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known. We will doeverything in our power to make sure that that day never comes. 

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrantsannounced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted tofully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in thesanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option. 

The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages-- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forcedconfessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International humanrights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning withhot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If thisis not evil, then evil has no meaning. 

And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding yourcountry -- your enemy is ruling your country. (Applause.) And the day he and his regime are removed from powerwill be the day of your liberation. 

The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat toour country, and our friends and our allies. The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council to conveneon February the 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powellwill present information and intelligence about Iraqi's legal -- Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its attemptto hide those weapons from inspectors, and its links to terrorist groups.

We will consult. But let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm, for thesafety of our people and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him. 

Tonight I have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American ArmedForces: Many of you are assembling in or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead. In thosehours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you.You believe in America, and America believes in you. 

Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a President can make. The technologies of warhave changed; the risks and suffering of war have not. For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victoryis free from sorrow. This nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost and we dread the days ofmourning that always come.

We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy ofterrible threats is no peace at all. If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means-- sparing, in every way we can, the innocent. And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full forceand might of the United States military -- and we will prevail. 

And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food andmedicines and supplies -- and freedom. 

Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single season. In two years, America has gone from asense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril; from bitter division in small matters to calm unity ingreat causes. And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country.

Americans are a resolute people who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed thecharacter of our country, to the world and to ourselves. America is a strong nation, and honorable in the useof our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of everynation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.