Bush says: “For more than a decade, Saddam Hussein has deceived and defied the will and resolutions of the United Nations Security Council by, among other things: continuing to seek and develop chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, and prohibited long-range missiles; brutalizing the Iraqi people, including committing gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity; supporting international terrorism; refusing to release or account for prisoners of war and other missing individuals from the Gulf War era; refusing to return stolen Kuwaiti property; and working to circumvent the U.N.'s economic sanctions.”

Without action, Bush says, the people of Iraq will continue to live in brutal submission. The regime will have new power to bully, dominate, and conquer its neighbours, condemning the Middle East to more years of bloodshed and fear. The region will remain unstable, with little hope of freedom, and isolated from the progress of our times.

“If we act, we can see a very different future. The people of Iraq can shake off their captivity. They can one day join a democratic Afghanistan and a democratic Palestine, inspiring reforms throughout the Muslim world.

"These nations can demonstrate that honest government, and respect for women, and the great Islamic tradition of learning can triumph in the Middle East and beyond,” George Bush says.

Facts have yet to be determined.

But unless Bush can be assured he’ll personally get through this U.S.-Iraq war ‘a free man’, be personally exempt from standing trial before all nations, the cowboy’s gun will likely remain cocked, ready to smoke. The military-might of the globe’s sole superpower will stand poised.