“Why We Took Action”

“Nor is there any problem with debating whether the United States and our allies should have liberated Iraq in the first place.” “I believe it is critical that we continue to remind ourselves why this nation took action, and why Iraq is the central front in the war on terror,.... What is not legitimate … is the suggestion by some U. S. senators that the President of the United States or any member of his administration purposely misled the American people on pre-war intelligence.” “As the President has said, ‘Terrorists and terror states do not reveal ... threats with fair notice, in formal declarations -- and responding to such enemies only after they have struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide.’” “…the President and Congress of the United States declined to trust the word of a dictator who had a history of weapons of mass destruction programs,…” “Although our coalition has not found WMD stockpiles in Iraq, I repeat that we never had the burden of proof; Saddam Hussein did.” “… a few politicians are suggesting these brave Americans were sent into battle for a deliberate falsehood. This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety.” “It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone.” “A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a victory for the terrorists, an invitation to further violence against free nations, and a terrible blow to the future security of the United States of America.” “We've never had a fight like this.”

• Vice President Dick Cheney, Remarks on the War on Terror, American Enterprise Institute, 11/21/05.