Remarks in Hedgesville, West Virginia

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, August 23, 2004

I then went to the United Nations, and I did so because force is the last resort for America. The decision to go to war is the toughest decision a President will ever make. I went to the United Nations in the hopes that diplomacy would work. The United Nations looked at the same intelligence I looked at and the Congress looked at and came to the same conclusion we did: Saddam Hussein was a threat. In the U.N. Security Council, there was a 15-to-nothing vote that said, "Disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences." As he had for over a decade, Saddam Hussein defied the demands of the free world. He went so far as to systematically deceive the inspectors that we sent in that country.

So I had a choice to make: Either forget the lessons of September the 11th and trust a madman, or take action necessary to defend America. Given that choice, I will defend our country every time.

Even though we didn't find the stockpiles we expected to find, Saddam Hussein had the capability of making weapons. And he could have passed that capability on to our enemies. After September the 11th, that is a risk we could not afford to take. Knowing what I know today, I would have made the same decision, and America and the world are safer with Saddam Hussein in a prison cell.

Now, almost 2 years after he voted for the war in Iraq, and 7 months after switching positions to declare himself the anti-war candidate, my opponent has found a new nuance. He now agrees it was the right decision to go into Iraq. After months of questioning my motives and even my credibility, the Senator from Massachusetts now agrees with me that even though we haven't found the stockpile of weapons we all believed were there, knowing everything we know today, he would have voted to go into Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein from power. I want to thank the Senator for clearing that up. [Laughter] Remember, there's over 75 days left in the campaign. He can still change his mind. [Laughter]

I'm running for 4 more years because I understand that we have more work to do to secure our country, to work with our friends and allies around the world, to aggressively pursue the terrorists and foreign fighters in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. See, you can't talk sense to these people. You cannot negotiate with them. You cannot hope for the best. We must engage these enemies so we do not have to face them here at home.

America will continue to lead the world with confidence and moral clarity. We put together a strong coalition to help us. There are nearly 40 nations involved in Afghanistan, some 30 nations involved in Iraq. Today I talked to Tony Blair and Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Ministers of great allies. We talked about how to spread peace and freedom around the world. These are important allies, and I appreciate their contributions. I will continue, over the next 4 years, to make sure our alliance is strong. But I will never tuna over America's national security decisions to leaders of other countries.

Audience members. Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!