``Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq,'' Bush said after inspecting a display of nuclear weapons parts and equipment, including assembled gas centrifuges for uranium enrichment, from Libya.
``We removed a declared enemy of America who had the capability of producing weapons of mass murder and could have passed that capability to terrorists bent on acquiring them. In the world after September 11th, that was a risk we could not afford to take,'' Bush said.
The president offered a broad new defense of the March 2003 invasion of Iraq three days after the release of a Senate report that harshly criticized unsubstantiated intelligence cited in the run-up to the war in Iraq, a crucial battle in the war on terrorism.
[snip]
Saddam refused to open his country to inspections, Bush said.
``So I had a choice to make: either take the word of a madman or defend America. Given that choice I will defend America.''
Bush has used similar rhetoric in speeches for months, but the words took on added significance in light of the latest report condemning the Iraq intelligence.
UPDATE: The White House postd a full transcript of Bush's speech in Tennessee today. The AP paraphrased Bush in the excerpt above, here are his complete remarks on why he chose to invade Iraq:
In 2002, the United Nations Security Council yet again demanded a full accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs. As he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply. In fact, according to former weapons inspector David Kay, Iraq's weapons programs were elaborately shielded by security and deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom. So I had a choice to make: Either take the word of a madman, or defend America. Given that choice, I will defend America every time. (Applause.)
Although we have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, we were right to go into Iraq. We removed a declared enemy of America, who had the capability of producing weapons of mass murder, and could have passed that capability to terrorists bent on acquiring them. In the world after September the 11th, that was a risk we could not afford to take.
So he did not say that Saddam kept the inspectors out of Iraq.
Not in that speech, anyway.
July 14, 2003
The larger point is, and the fundamental question is, did Saddam Hussein have a weapons program? And the answer is, absolutely. And we gave him a chance to allow the inspectors in, and he wouldn't let them in.
February 26, 2004
The United Nations Security Council looked at the intelligence and it saw a threat. Saddam Hussein said, I'm not going to expose my weapons, I'm not going to get rid of my -- I'm not going to allow inspectors in, he said.
July 9, 2004
And so what did Saddam Hussein say to the world? He said, forget it, I'm not going to -- we're going to play games with the inspectors. Intelligence clearly says that he was gaming the system. He wasn't going to disclose. He wasn't about to show the world what he had. Inspectors like you had for years were denied access.