'Saddam Hussein's Regime Is Clearly Doomed'

Remarks by the US Vice President to the American Society of News Editors

I count many friends among the American Society of Newspaper Editors. And it's good to have the opportunityto join you again. And I look forward to taking your questions in a few minutes.

Three weeks into the war -- which I want to talk about this morning -- I, obviously, cannot begin myremarks without paying tribute to those that we've lost on the field of battle. Our campaign is proceedingwith speed and success. But that will not ease the sorrow of the families of American and coalition troopskilled in the line of duty. We're thinking of these families now with respect and gratitude. And this nationwill always honor the sacrifices made in our defense.

American journalism has also lost two of its finest men over the last several days. I knew Michael Kellyand greatly admired his work. He was a superb writer. And as a reporter and editor, he upheld the higheststandards of your profession. David Bloom, of NBC, impressed everyone with his skill, energy and exuberance.Both David and Michael were also very decent men with young families. And many people are feeling their losstoday, the same way they feel the loss of the members of our armed forces. I also want to extend America'scondolences to the families of all the foreign journalists killed in the war.

These two young reporters were among the 600 American journalists embedded in coalition military units allacross Iraq. The embedding of journalists has made for some outstanding reporting. I suspect the arrangementhas also led to greater respect all around. For their part, the troops have come to know reporters who arewilling to accept the hardships and dangers of war in order to get the story right. And journalists have cometo know our military -- not just for the power of its weapons, but by the character of the men and women whoserve.

Since the war, our forces have conducted themselves with all of the skill and integrity that President Bushand the American people expected of them. They are in the field at this very hour. Operations continue allacross Iraq securing cities, protecting supply lines, delivering tons of humanitarian aid. In downtown Baghdadthis morning, we are seeing evidence of the collapse of any central regime authority. The streets are full ofpeople celebrating. While pockets of regime security forces may remain, they appear to be far less effectiveat putting up any resistance.

In southern Iraq today, British forces are securing the second largest city, in Basra. Across Iraq, we arebeginning to see senior religious leaders come forward urging their followers to support our coalition,another sure sign that Saddam Hussein's regime is clearly doomed.

There may well be hard fighting yet ahead. Regime forces are still in control in northern Iraq -- in Mosuland Kirkuk and Tikrit. Yet the conclusion of the war will mark one of the most extraordinary militarycampaigns ever conducted. It's proceeded according to a carefully drawn plan with fixed objectives andflexibility in meeting them. In the early days of the war, the plan was criticized by some retired militaryofficers embedded in TV studios. (Laughter.) But with every day and every advance by our coalition forces, thewisdom of that plan becomes more apparent. Secretary Rumsfeld, General Franks, General Myers and General Paceat Pentagon -- and their subordinates -- have done a superb job. It's been a most impressive performance. Andcoming on the heels of the Afghanistan operation last year, it's proof positive of the success of our effortsto transform our military to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

Having been involved in planning and waging the Persian Gulf War in 1991 as Secretary of Defense, I think Ican say with some authority that this campaign has displayed vastly improved capabilities, far better than wedid a dozen years ago. In Desert Storm, only 20 percent of our air-to-ground fighters could guide alaser-guided bomb to target. Today, all of our air-to-ground fighters have that capability. In Desert Storm,it usually took up to two days for target planners to get a photo of a target, confirm its coordinates, planthe mission, and deliver it to the bomber crew. Now we have near real-time imaging of targets with photos andcoordinates transmitted by e-mail to aircraft already in flight. In Desert Storm, battalion, brigade anddivision commanders had to rely on maps, grease pencils and radio reports to track the movements of ourforces. Today our commanders have a real-time display of our own forces on their computer screens. In DesertStorm, we did not yet have the B-2. But that aircraft is now critical to our operations. And on a singlebombing sortie, a B-2 can hit 16 separate targets, each with a 2,000-pound, precision-guided, satellite-basedweapon.

The superior technology we now possess is, perhaps, the most obvious difference between the Gulf War andthe present conflict. But there are many others. Desert Storm began with a 38-day air campaign, followed by abrief ground attack. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the ground war began before the air war. In 1991, SaddamHussein had time to set Kuwait's oil fields ablaze. In the current conflict, forces sent in early protectedthe 600 oil fields in southern Iraq, prevented an environmental catastrophe, and safeguarded a resource that'svital for the future of the people of Iraq. During Operation Desert Storm, Saddam managed to fire Scudmissiles at Israel and Saudi Arabia. This time was different, again, thanks to Special Operations Forces,which seized control of the missile launch baskets in western Iraq, preventing their use by the enemy. OurSpecial Ops forces -- joined by those of the British, the Australian, and the Polish allies -- have played avital role in the success of the current campaign.

During Operation Desert Storm, we faced a massive flow of refugees in need of aid and shelter. But so far,in Operation Iraqi Freedom, we've averted a large-scale humanitarian crisis. U.S. and Royal Marines succeededin taking the Al Faw Peninsula and cleared a path for humanitarian aid. And today, even as fighting continues,coalition forces are bringing food and water and medical supplies to liberated Iraqis.

Looking at the overall effort, Saddam Hussein apparently expected that this war would essentially be areplay of Desert Storm. And although he realized that some 250,000 Americans and coalition forces werestationed in the Gulf on the eve of the war, he seems to have assumed there was ample time to destroy the oilfields he had rigged to explode and the bridges that he had wired. But the tactics employed by General Frankswere bold. They made the most of every technological advantage of our military, and they succeeded in takingthe enemy by surprise.

Let me quote the military historian Victor Davis Hanson writing several days ago: "By any fairstandard of even the most dazzling charges in military history, the Germans in the Ardennes in the Spring of1940, or Patton's romp in July of 1944, the present race to Baghdad is unprecedented in its speed and daring,and in the lightness of its casualties." Hanson calls the campaign "historically unprecedented"and predicts that its "logistics will be studied for decades". Bottom line, with less than half ofthe ground forces and two-thirds of the air assets used 12 years ago in Desert Storm, Secretary Rumsfeld andGeneral Franks have achieved a far more difficult objective.

Yet until this war is fully won, we cannot be overconfident in our position, and we must not underestimatethe desperation of whatever forces remain loyal to the dictator. We know full well the nature of the enemy weare dealing with. Servants of the regime have used hospitals, schools and mosques for military operations.They have tortured and executed prisoners of war. They have forced women and children to serve as humanshields. They have transported death squads in ambulances, fought in civilian clothes, feigned surrender andopened fire on our forces, and shot civilians who welcomed coalition troops.

In dealing with such an enemy, we must expect vicious tactics until the regime's final breath. The hardestcombat could still be ahead of us. Only the outcome can be predicted with certainty: Iraq will be disarmed ofits weapons of mass destruction; the regime will end; and the Iraqi people will be free.

In removing the terror regime from Iraq, we send a very clear message to all groups that operate by meansof terror and violence against the innocent. The United States and our coalition partners are showing that wehave the capacity and the will to wage war on terror -- and to win decisively.

When I last spoke to this organization in 1990, the Cold War was ending, and I said then that we werelooking at a new era in national security policy. Today, we are not just looking at a new era, we are actuallyliving through it. The exact nature of the new dangers revealed themselves on September 11, 2001, with themurder of 3,000 innocent, unsuspecting men, women and children right here at home. The attack on our countryforced us to come to grips with the possibility that the next time terrorists strike, they may well be armedwith more than just plane tickets and box cutters. The next time they might direct chemical agents or diseasesat our population, or attempt to detonate a nuclear weapon in one of our cities. These are not abstractmatters to ponder -- they are real dangers that we must guard against and confront before it's too late. Fromthe training manuals and documents that we've seized in the war on terror, and from the interrogations we'veconducted, we know the terrorists are determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and to use themagainst us. With September 11th as a fresh memory, no rational person can doubt that terrorists would use suchweapons of mass murder the moment they are able to do so.

The government of the United States has a moral duty to confront those threats, and to do whatever it takesto defeat them. And as the leading power, we have a further responsibility to help keep the peace of the worldand to prevent terrorists and their sponsors from plunging the world into horrific violence. President Bushtakes that responsibility very seriously, and he is meeting it with great resolve and with clarity of purpose.

If we are to protect the American people and defend civilization against determined enemies, we cannotalways rely on the old Cold War remedies of containment and deterrence. Containment does not work against arogue state that possesses weapons of mass destruction and chooses to secretly deliver them to its terroristallies. Deterrence does not work when we are dealing with terrorists who have no country to defend, who revelin violence, and who are willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to kill millions of others. To meet theunprecedented dangers posed by rogue states with weapons of mass destruction, and terrorist networks withglobal reach, our administration has taken urgent and, at times, unprecedented action.

One of these important things we have done is to strengthen the defense of the homeland. As the Presidentrequested, Congress created the Department of Homeland Security to mobilize against a wide range of potentialthreats. We have put more marshals on airplanes; stepped up security at airports, power plants, ports andborder crossings. We have inoculated our troops against anthrax and smallpox and made the vaccines availablefor first responders, who are stockpiling enough smallpox vaccine for every American. We have proposed andurge Congress to pass Project BioShield -- a comprehensive effort to develop and make available modern,effective drugs and treatments to counter a chemical or biological attack. And Project Bioshield is a criticalelement of defense in this new era.

But we know that playing defense isn't enough -- we have to seize the offense against terrorists. So we aregoing after the terrorists, hunting them down, freezing their assets, disrupting their chain of command. We'vehad great successes recently with the capture of two key figures in the September 11th attacks -- Ramzi Binal-Shibh and Khalid Sheik Mohammed. And, of course, we still have forces on the ground in Afghanistan workingwith that country's government to rid it of the Taliban and al Qaeda elements.

Our war on terror continues on every front, from law enforcement, to intelligence, to military action. ThePresident has made clear from the beginning that this will be a long and a focused effort -- not only becausethe terrorists operate in the shadows, but also because they enjoy the backing of outlaw states. It is thisalliance between terrorist networks seeking weapons of mass destruction and rogue states developing or alreadypossessing these weapons that constitutes the gravest current threat to America's national security.

Therefore, a vital element of our strategy against terror must be to break the alliance between terroristorganizations and terrorist-sponsoring states. The chemical and biological weapons that Saddam Hussein isknown to have produced are the very instruments that terrorists are seeking in order to inflict devastatingharm on the people of this country, in Europe, and in the Middle East. That's why from the day the Gulf Warended in 1991, the United States has supported the efforts of the U.N. Security Council to disarm Iraq of itsweapons of mass destruction. And that is why the United States today is enforcing that demand.

As we meet this morning, I cannot predict with certainty how soon this war will be over. Although I ampleased, as is everyone else, to see the reports coming out of Baghdad today, I want to caution everybody thatwe still have a lot of work to do yet. I am certain that when it is successfully concluded, the friends of theUnited States -- throughout the world and in the Middle East -- will be deeply heartened by this victory andwill prove far more willing to stand up to the tyrants and terrorists in their midst.

The end of Saddam's regime will remove a source of violence and instability in a vital part of the world. Anew regime in Iraq will also serve as a dramatic and inspiring example of freedom to other nations in theMiddle East. As President Bush has said: "The United States, with other countries, will work to advanceliberty and peace in that region. Our goal will not be achieved overnight, but it can come over time. Thepower and the appeal of human liberty is felt in every life and every land. And the greatest power of freedomis to overcome hatred and violence and turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits ofpeace."

The actions of our coalition now being taken in Iraq today have come at a cost. But the cost of inactionwould have been far greater. And they would have been paid, not just by future generations, but very likely byour own, as well. By their skill and courage, the American armed forces joined by the finest of allies aremaking this nation and the world more secure. They are bringing freedom where there is tyranny, relief wherethere is suffering. As a former Secretary of Defense, I've never been more proud of those who wear the uniformof the United States military.

Later this morning, here in New Orleans, my wife, Lynne, and I will visit the National D-Day Museum, themuseum founded on the initiative of the late Stephen Ambrose, whose writings did so much to acquaint Americansof today with the heroism of the World War II generation. In one of his books, Ambrose related a soldier'smemories of that period in our history. "In the spring of 1945," he said, "around the world,the sight of a 12-man squad of teenage boys armed, in uniform, brought terror to people's hearts. But therewas an exception: a squad of G.I.'s, a sight that brought the biggest smiles you ever saw to people's lips andjoy to their hearts. G.I.'s meant candy, cigarettes, C-rations, and freedom. America had sent the best of heryoung men around the world, not to conquer, but to liberate; not to terrorize, but to help."

Ladies and gentlemen, in the spring of 2003, the American people and the watching world are seeing anothergreat generation. The citizens of Iraq, like so many oppressed peoples before them, are coming to know thekind of men and women that America sends forth to meet danger and to defend freedom. We can all be thankfulthat our country still produces such men and women -- this great force of volunteers, placing themselvesbetween our country and our enemies. And when their mission is accomplished, we look forward to welcoming themhome with pride and with gratitude.

Thank you. 

It's my understanding the drill is, for questions, I think we've got microphones in each aisle, and anybodywho wants, step up and I'll be happy to respond as best I can. Yes, sir.

Mr. Vice President, Edward Seaton (ph) from the Manhattan Mercury in Kansas. As you know, 11 journalistshave been killed in this war. I think that represents about 9 percent of the total of U.S. and British troopswho have been lost. Yesterday was a particularly grueling day for journalists, both U.S. journalists andinternational journalists. There were three journalists who died yesterday, and there were three strikes thathave been questioned, particularly in the Arab world, that have the look of perhaps more than simple militaryaction -- at least that's been the allegation in some quarters. Abudabi TV was hit, was struck by U.S. fire. Amissile hit Al Jazeera TV, and the Palestine Hotel was struck by tank rounds. I wonder if you could speak tothose allegations that we're hearing from the Arab world, and just generally, the issue of safety,particularly of journalists who are not embedded with U.S. forces or British forces.

Dick Cheney: Well, I appreciate the question. Obviously,, as I mentioned in my remarks, any loss ofinnocent life in the military action is to be regretted.