Quotes from the Past Week

[Chreteau]

Bush Travels With Daughter Jenna
"I'm proud to be traveling with one of our twin daughters, Jenna Bush. This is the camping trip I promised to take her on when she was a kid."
President Bush, speaking at a Victory 2004 Rally, Hobbs, New Mexico, October 11, 2004.

General Franks Comments on Bush's Character
"I have seen this President, this Commander-in-Chief, when the nights were long and the mornings were early and the decisions to be made were hard. And you know what I saw? I saw character, I saw courage and I saw consistency."
General Tommy Franks, speaking at a Victory 2004 Rally, Morrison, Colorado, October 11, 2004.

Saddam's WMD Plans in Iraq
"Saddam did not abandon his nuclear ambitions. He made clear his view the nuclear weapons were the right of any country that could build them. He was very attentive to the growing Iranian threat -- especially its potential nuclear component, and stated that he would do whatever it took to offset the Iranian threat, clearly implying matching Tehran's nuclear capabilities. Saddam observed that India and Pakistan had slipped across the nuclear weapons boundary quite successfully. Those around Saddam seemed quite convinced that once sanctions were ended, and all other things being equal, Saddam would renew his efforts in the field."

"What is clear is that Saddam retained his notions of the use of force and had experience that demonstrated the utility of WMD. He was making progress in eroding sanctions and, had it not been for the events of 9-11-2001, things would have taken a different course for the Regime. Most senior members of the Regime and scientists assumed that the programs would begin in earnest when sanctions ended -- and sanctions were eroding."

"We cannot yet definitively say whether or not WMD materials were transferred out of Iraq before the war. Neither can we definitively answer some questions about possible retained stocks."
Charles Duelfer, Special Advisor to the DCI, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on October 6, 2004.

Saddam Orders Biological Weapons
"I need these germs to be fixed on the missiles, and tell him to hit, because starting the 15th, everyone should be ready for the action to happen at anytime."
Saddam Hussein, January 1991, as quoted in the Duelfer report.

State of the World Today
"Here is the state of the world today. Early last month, masked gunmen seized a school in Beslan, Russia. They forced over 1,000 children and their teachers into a sweltering gymnasium, with virtually no food or water. They wired the gym with explosives. They terrorized the children, shooting those who disobeyed them. After 52 hours, the terrorists detonated the explosives. They shot children in the back who tried to run away. In a ruthlessly executed operation, the terrorists murdered more than 300 people, most of whom were children.

On 30 September, in Baghdad, children gathered near a ceremony marking the opening of a water treatment plant. They were bunched together to get candy soldiers were handing out. Seeing them bunched together, terrorists drove two explosives-laden cars into the midst of the children, detonated the cars and deliberately murdered 34 children and 7 adults; 130 other civilians, many of them children, were injured.

On 1 October in Pakistan, a bombing at a Shi'ite mosque killed dozens of worshippers. Just yesterday, three terrorist bombs exploded at restors in Egypt, killing at least 35 people, injuring 100. These people were on vacation. Workers are still pulling them out of the rubble as I speak here today.

In each case, the terrorists believed that they were acting in the service of a cause. These were not random acts of violence; they were cause-driven acts of violence. Some say that such murders of children are justified by 'root causes.' Supporters of the murder of civilians sometimes say that these are justifiable acts of national liberation or of self-determination. Some claim that exploding bombs in the midst of children is in the service of God. That is the ultimate blasphemy."
John C. Danforth, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, speaking at the 5053rd meeting of the UN Security Council following the unanimous adoption of resolution 1566 which condemns terrorism, October 8, 2004.