布什白宫讲话全文
美国总统布什于当地时间3月17日晚8点（北京时间3月18日上午9:00）发表电视讲话，对伊拉克总统萨达姆下达48小时的最后通牒。以下是这篇演讲的全文(载自《中国新闻网》)：
同胞们，伊拉克的形势现在已经到了最后作出决定的时候了。十多年来，美国和其他国家一直耐心地、可敬地努力着，试图不用战争来解除伊拉克政权的武装。作为结束1991年海湾战争的条件之一，伊拉克政权保证将说明并摧毁其大规模杀伤性武器。
从那时起，国际社会进行了为时12年的外交努力。我们在联合国安理会通过了十几个决议。我们派了几百名核查人员前往伊拉克监督其解除武装。我们的好意和真诚没有得到回报。伊拉克政权利用了外交作为策略来赢得时间和优势。它一直藐视着安理会要求它解除武装的决议。
在过去几年里，联合国武器核查人员受到过伊拉克政府官员的威胁，伊拉克方面通过安装电子窃听器等手段，截获核查人员的情报，并对核查人员进行系统性的欺骗。和平解除伊拉克政权武装的努力一再失败，因为我们打交道的人并非爱好和平的人。美国政府和其他国家政府收集到的情报清晰地表明，伊拉克政权继续拥有世界上最具杀伤性的武器，并隐瞒了其中部分该种武器。伊拉克政权已经对其邻国和伊拉克人民使用过大规模杀伤性武器。
萨达姆政权曾经有过侵略其他中东国家的历史。该政权仇恨美国和美国的盟国，它还援助、训练和包庇恐怖分子，包括“基地”组织人员。
我们面临的危险是清楚不过的：在伊拉克的帮助下，恐怖分子可以利用生化武器，甚至某一天可能获取核武器，并利用这种武器实施他们既定的袭击计划，将我们国家或其他任何国家上万人甚至十几万无辜百姓杀死。美国和其他国家所做的一切不应该得到这种袭击，也不会引起这种威胁，但我们将尽一切努力来挫败这种袭击阴谋。我们不会沿着悲剧的道路走下去，我们将朝着安全的方向走下去。
在恐怖日子能够到来之前，在我们做一切努力都为之已晚的结果出现之前，我们将把这种危险消除掉。美国具有利用武力确保自己国家安全的至高无上的权利。
作为三军总司令，我有义务承担起自己誓言中所说的责任，我将把我的誓言变成现实。
认清它对我们国家的威胁，美国国会去年投票表决，以绝对多数支持对伊拉克使用武力。
美国已试图与联合国合作来应对这一威胁，因为我们想和平地解决这一问题。我们相信联合国所担负的使命。
二次大战结束后建立联合国的原因之一就是要积极并尽早地对付带有侵略性的独裁者，以免他袭击无辜的人并破坏和平。
在伊拉克问题上，安理会在上世纪90年代初确实采取了行动。根据仍然有效的678号和687号决议，美国和我们的盟国有权对伊拉克使用武力，解除它的大规模杀伤性武器。
这已不是一个授权的问题，而是一个显示决心和意志的问题。去年9月，我在联合国大会上敦促国际社会团结一致彻底解决伊拉克问题，消除萨达姆政权可能带来的危害。去年11月8日，联合国安理会一致通过了第1441号决议，该决议认为伊拉克已经实质性地违反了其解除武装的义务并誓言如果伊拉克不能完全履行该决议并立即解除其武装，那么就将面临严重的后果。
今天，没有任何一个国家可以声称伊拉克已经解除了武装，而且只要萨达姆还掌握着伊拉克的政权，那么伊拉克就不会解除武装。
在过去的四个半月当中，美国及其盟国一直在联合国安理会的框架下力图要求伊拉克履行安理会长期以来的要求。但是一些安理会常任理事国却公开宣称他们将否决任何旨在逼迫伊拉克解除武装的决议。这些国家的政府与我们一样认为伊拉克是一个威胁，但却不象我们这样有勇气和决心来迎接这个挑战。
不过，其他很多国家却有决心和意志来采取行动消除这个对和平构成威胁的问题，现在不少国家已经组成了一个广泛的联盟准备采取一致行动要求伊拉克履行联合国的决议。联合国安理会不会置其自身的责任于不顾，而我们也将承担起自己的职责。
在最近几天，中东地区一些国家为了解决伊拉克问题也在做出他们的贡献。他们已经通过公开和私下的渠道向伊拉克的独裁者传达这样一个信息，即敦促他离开伊拉克以便解除武装的工作能够以和平方式进行。但到目前为止，他都对此表示了拒绝。
几十年的欺骗和残酷现在该到头了。萨达姆和他的儿子们必须在48小时内离开伊拉克。如果他们拒绝这样做，结果只能是由我们自己选择时间开始的战争。为了他们的自身安全，包括记者和核查人员在内的所有外国人应立即离开伊拉克。
许多伊拉克人今晚通过电台广播的翻译听到了我的讲话。对他们我还有一个口信：如果我们开始一场军事行动，它针对的是统治你们国家的无法无天的人，而不是针对你们。当我们的联军剥夺了他们的权力，我们将向你们发送你们所需要的食物和药品。我们将打碎恐怖机器，我们将帮助你们建立一个繁荣自由的新伊拉克。
在一个自由的伊拉克国度里，将不再有入侵你们的邻国的行为，也不再有生产有毒物质的工厂，不再有对持不同政见人士的破害，也不再有严刑拷打的牢房。暴君将很快被推翻，你们获得解放的日子就在眼前。
萨达姆现在想要继续执政已为时已晚。但现在对于伊拉克军队而言，保护你们的国家、维护伊拉克的荣誉还为时不晚，所以你们应该以和平的方式让盟军部队进入伊拉克帮助消除大规模杀伤性武器。我们的部队将给予伊拉克士兵明确的指示，告诉他们如何缴械投降就能免遭盟军的攻击和被盟军消灭。
我在这里敦促伊拉克军事和情报机构的每一个成员，如果战争真的打响了，你们最好不要再帮助一个垂死的政权抗争了，因为这个政权并不值得你们为它付出生命的代价。
另外，所有的伊拉克军事人员和平民百姓都应该仔细听好下述警告：在任何一场冲突当中，你们的命运都将取决于你们的行动。不要摧毁油井设施，因为它们是属于伊拉克民众的一个财富来源。不要遵从任何有关让你们使用大规模杀伤性武器来对付任何人的命令。那些战争犯罪活动将受到起诉，战犯将被绳之以法，到时如果再说“我只是在服从命令”这样的话是无法为自己开脱罪责的。
我们认为伊拉克人民与萨达姆不同，他们应该而且能够享有人类的自由，而且当独裁者离开这个国家，他们可以为所有的中东的人们做出一个榜样，一个至关重要，和平且自治的国家。
美国和其他国家会致力于这一地区的自由。我们的目标不会在一夜之间就实现，而是需要一段时间。每个人的生命都能感受到人类自由的力量以及对人类自由的渴望。它的巨大的力量将战胜仇恨、暴力，并把人们的创造力转化为对和平的追求。这就是我们选择的将来。
自由国家有责任能通过团结应对暴力来保卫我们的人民。今晚，和我们以往所做的一样，美国和我们的盟国接受这一责任。
晚安，愿上帝继续保佑美国。
Transcript of Bush's Remarks On Decision to Issue Ultimatum
The following is a transcript of U.S. President George W. Bush's address to the nation on Monday, March 17, 2003, as transmitted by the Associated Press.
My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision.
For more than a decade, the United States and other nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all of its weapons of mass destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq.
Our good faith has not been returned. The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage. It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament.
Over the years, U.N. weapons inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials, electronically bugged and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraq regime have failed again and again because we are not dealing with peaceful men.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.
The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has a deep hatred of America and our friends and it has aided, trained and harbored terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda.
The danger is clear: Using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear weapons obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people in our country or any other.
The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this threat, but we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along toward tragedy, we will set a course toward safety.
Before the day of horror can come, before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed.
The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me as commander-in-chief by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep.
Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States Congress voted overwhelmingly last year to support the use of force against Iraq.
America tried to work with the United Nations to address this threat because we wanted to resolve the issue peacefully. We believe in the mission of the United Nations.
One reason the U.N. was founded after the Second World War was to confront aggressive dictators actively and early, before they can attack the innocent and destroy the peace.
In the case of Iraq, the Security Council did act in the early 1990s. Under resolutions 678 and 687, both still in effect, the United States and our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.
This is not a question of authority, it is a question of will.
Last September, I went to the U.N. General Assembly and urged the nations of the world to unite and bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the Security Council unanimously passed resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material breach of its obligations and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully and immediately disarm.
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed. And it will not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power.
For the last four and a half months, the United States and our allies have worked within the Security Council to enforce that council's longstanding demands. Yet some permanent members of the Security Council have publicly announced that they will veto any resolution that compels the disarmament of Iraq. These governments share our assessment of the danger, but not our resolve to meet it.
Many nations, however, do have the resolve and fortitude to act against this threat to peace, and a broad coalition is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world.
The United Nations Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to ours.
In recent days, some governments in the Middle East have been doing their part. They have delivered public and private messages urging the dictator to leave Iraq so that disarmament can proceed peacefully.
He has thus far refused.
All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict commenced at a time of our choosing.
For their own safety, all foreign nationals, including journalists and inspectors, should leave Iraq immediately.
Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I have a message for them: If we must begin a military campaign, it will be directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you.
As our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you need.
We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a new Iraq that is prosperous and free.
In free Iraq there will be no more wars of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms.
The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near.
It is too late for Saddam Hussein to remain in power. It is not too late for the Iraq military to act with honor and protect your country, by permitting the peaceful entry of coalition forces to eliminate weapons of mass destruction. Our forces will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can take to avoid being attacked and destroyed.
I urge every member of the Iraqi military and intelligence services: If war comes, do not fight for a dying regime that is not worth your own life.
And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to this warning: In any conflict, your fate will depend on your actions. Do not destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, “I was just following orders.”
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know that every measure has been taken to avoid war and every measure will be taken to win it.
Americans understand the costs of conflict because we have paid them in the past. War has no certainty except the certainty of sacrifice.
Yet the only way to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the full force and might of our military, and we are prepared to do so.
If Saddam Hussein attempts to cling to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end.
In desperation, he and terrorist groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the American people and our friends. These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however, possible.
And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed.
Our government is on heightened watch against these dangers. Just as we are preparing to ensure victory in Iraq, we are taking further actions to protect our homeland.
In recent days, American authorities have expelled from the country certain individuals with ties to Iraqi intelligence services.
Among other measures, I have directed additional security at our airports and increased Coast Guard patrols of major seaports. The Department of Homeland Security is working closely with the nation's governors to increase armed security at critical facilities across America.
Should enemies strike our country, they would be attempting to shift our attention with panic and weaken our morale with fear. In this, they would fail.
No act of theirs can alter the course or shake the resolve of this country. We are a peaceful people, yet we are not a fragile people. And we will not be intimidated by thugs and killers.
If our enemies dare to strike us, they and all who have aided them will face fearful consequences.
We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be far greater. In one year, or five years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations would be multiplied many times over.
With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are strongest. We choose to meet that threat now where it arises, before it can appear suddenly in our skies and cities.
The cause of peace requires all free nations to recognize new and undeniable realities. In the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous dictators whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global war.
In this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological and nuclear terror, a policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on this earth. Terrorists and terrorist states do not reveal these 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 security of the world requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.
As we enforce the just demands of the world, we will also honor the deepest commitments of our country.
Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi people are deserving and capable of human liberty, and when the dictator has departed, they can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation.
The United States with other countries will work to advance liberty and peace in that region. Our goal will not be achieved overnight, but it can come over time. The power and appeal of human liberty is felt in every life and every land, and the greatest power of freedom is to overcome hatred and violence, and turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits of peace. That is the future we choose.
Free nations have a duty to defend our people by uniting against the violent, and tonight, as we have done before, America and our allies accept that responsibility.
Good night, and may God continue to bless America.
Updated March 17, 2003 9:39 p.m.
They were still Saddam's useful idiots