"Amid the fog of diplomacy these past few months, it has been easy to lose sight of American purposes in Iraq. But as President Bush reminded us last night, the imminent war to liberate the world from Saddam Hussein is both just and necessary.
The fighting that will soon commence is not in fact the start of this war. It is the beginning of the end of a war that began when Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The first President Bush rallied the world to roll that invasion back but failed to seize the moment to gain a permanent victory. The Iraq war has continued ever since, with Saddam's agents attempting to assassinate the elder Mr. Bush and shoot down U.S. pilots.
In that sense this war is above all about American self-defense. Saddam may lack the means to invade the U.S., but we learned on September 11 that enemies can strike our homeland in other ways. With revenge as a motive, horrifying weapons as a means and terrorists willing to serve as his opportunity, Saddam poses a clear and present danger to Americans."
"The 12-Year War," Mar. 18, 2003
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