Bush and the Iraq War

Collected Quotes

July 2, 2003

If you’re interested in peace, if you want people to grow up in a peaceful world, all parties must do everything they can to reject and stop violence. ⁵³
In response to a Tel Aviv bus bombing (September 19, 2002) 

If you want to keep the peace, you’ve got to have the authorization to use force. ⁵⁴
Requesting Congressional support for a war against Iraq (September 19, 2002) 

I believe this is not a military showdown, this is a diplomatic showdown. ¹²³
Explaining the lack of urgency over North Korea, which already has two nuclear weapons and could build five or six more in the next six months, now that it has ejected UN inspectors and started processing plutonium (December 31, 2002) 

We don’t know whether or not he has a nuclear weapon. ¹²³
Explaining the urgency over Saddam Hussein and Iraq, which could develop a nuclear weapon in five years, or one year with help from North Korea (December 31, 2002) 

What we need now is not just a regime change in Saddam Hussein and Iraq, but we need a regime change in the United States. ¹⁶¹
John Kerry, Democratic Senator from Massachusetts (April 2, 2003) 

Senator Kerry crossed a grave line when he dared to suggest the replacement of America’s commander in chief at a time when America is at war. ¹⁶¹
Marc Racicot, chairman of the Republican National Committee (April 3, 2003) 

Mr. Racicot, not Mr. Kerry, is the one who crossed a grave line; never in our nation’s history has it been considered unpatriotic to oppose an incumbent’s re-election. ¹⁶¹
Paul Krugman, The New York Times, (April 8, 2003) 

The overwhelming political lesson of the last year is that war works – that is, it’s an excellent cover for the Republican Party’s domestic political agenda. In fact, war works in two ways. The public rallies around the flag, which means the President and his party; and the public’s attention is diverted from other issues. And it just so happens that the “Bush doctrine,” which calls for preventive war against countries that may someday pose a threat, offers the possibility of a series of wars against nasty regimes with weak armies. ¹⁷¹

Paul Krugman, The New York Times, (April 15, 2003) 

Each time the administration comes up with another whopper, partisan supporters – a group that includes a large segment of the news media – obediently insist that black is white and up is down. Meanwhile the “liberal” media report only that some people say that black is black and up is up. ¹⁷⁵
Paul Krugman, The New York Times, (June 3, 2003) 

If you put “George W. Bush” and “lies” into the Google search engine, you get 250,000 references in nine-tenths of a second. ¹⁷⁶
Molly Ivins (June 30, 2003). 

Searched the web for George W. Bush lies. Results 1 – 10 of about 255,000. Search took 0.08 seconds. 
Google (July 2, 2003)

---

Footnotes

⁵³ “Suicide Bombing on Tel Aviv Bus Kills at Least Five,” Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post Foreign Service, September 19, 2002.

⁵⁴ “Bush Seeks Power To Use ‘All Means’ To Oust Hussein,” Todd S. Purdum and Elisabeth Bumiller, The New York Times, September 20, 2002, pg. A1.

¹²³ “Bush Contends That North Korea Is No Iraq,” David E. Sanger, The New York Times, January 1, 2003, pg. A1.

¹⁶¹ “The Last Refuge,” Paul Krugman, The New York Times, April 8, 2003, pg. A31.

¹⁷¹ “Behind Our Backs,” Paul Krugman, The New York Times, April 15, 2003, pg. A23.

¹⁷⁵ “Standard Operating Procedure,” Paul Krugman, The New York Times, June 3, 2003, pg. A31.

¹⁷⁶ “White House Finds Solution: Edit Out Global Warming,” Molly Ivins, The Capital Times, Madison, WI, June 30, 2003, pg. 9A.