Associated Press: Bush Says Strikes on Iran Begin

Bush, 2001: This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.

Swedish: Crusade = korståg, d.v.s. ett kristet JIHAD

Breaking news!

washingtonpost.com

Bush Says Strikes on Iran Begin

Associated Press Sunday, October 7, 2007; 10:29 PM

U.S. forces launched a strike against "targets of military opportunity" in Iran, President Bush said Sunday night. He described the action as the opening salvo in an operation to "disarm Iran and to free its people."

Bush spoke after the U.S. military struck with cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs against a site near Teheran, where Iranian leaders were thought to be, U.S. government officials said. There was no indication whether the attack was successful.

The strikes used Tomahawk cruise missiles and precision-guided bombs dropped from F-117 Nighthawks, the Air Force's stealth fighter-bombers, military officials said.

Bush addressed the nation about two hours after his 8 p.m. EST ultimatum for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give up power.

"Now that conflict has come, the only way to limit its duration is to apply decisive force," Bush said in his address to the nation. "We will accept no outcome but victory."

He spoke as a U.S-led force of 100,000 troops ringed Iran, ready to launch a ferocious assault to topple the Iranian dictator and capture any weapons of mass destruction.

"On my order, coalition forces have begun targeting selected targets of military importance to undermine Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's ability to wage war," the president said. "These are the opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign."

As he has many times in the run-up to war, Bush declared that the United States has "no ambition in Iran except to remove a threat. Our forces will be coming home as soon as their work is done."

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino had announced Bush's plans to speak on short notice.

© 2007 The Associated Press

So what was it worth to watch President Bush on Arabian television?

Bush denies plans to attack Iran

Fri Oct 5, 5:19 PM ET

WASHINGTON - President Bush denied in an interview with Arab television that the U.S. is gearing up to attack Iran and said he remains committed to working diplomatically to resolve the standoff with Tehran over its nuclear program.

The president, in an hour-long interview with Al-Arabiya TV, also reiterated his pledge to negotiate with Iran if it gives up its nuclear program.

"I have said that if they suspend their nuclear program, we will be at the table," Bush said, according to a transcript of the interview the White House released on Friday. "But they have so far refused to do that."

Bush brushed off as "gossip" reports in the Arab press that he has issued orders to senior U.S. military officials to prepare for an attack on Iran at the end of January or in February.

"I would call that empty propaganda," Bush said. "Evidently, there's a lot of gossip in the parts of the country — world that try to scare people about me personally or my country or what we stand for. And that kind of gossip is just what it is. It's gossip. It's baseless gossip."

In the hour-long interview, Bush acknowledged that some people in the Middle East think he is against Islam and is a man or war. The interview was conducted on Thursday in the Oval Office and two other areas of the White House by the Saudi-owned satellite news broadcaster.

"I understand the images of my country have been distorted," Bush said. "And I understand people say things about me personally that simply aren't true. And so I appreciate the chance to come and talk to you directly and to talk to your viewers directly about what's in my heart and about the fact that my country is a country of peace."

From the White House archives, September, 2001:

Remarks by the President Upon Arrival

Our nation was horrified, but it's not going to be terrorized. We're a great nation. We're a nation of resolve. We're a nation that can't be cowed by evil-doers. I've got great faith in the American people. If the American people had seen what I had seen in New York City, you'd have great faith, too. You'd have faith in the hard work of the rescuers; you'd have great faith because of the desire for people to do what's right for America; you'd have great faith because of the compassion and love that our fellow Americans are showing each other in times of need.

I also have faith in our military. And we have got a job to do - just like the farmers and ranchers and business owners and factory workers have a job to do. My administration has a job to do, and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of the evil-doers. We will call together freedom loving people to fight terrorism.

And on on this day of - on the Lord's Day, I say to my fellow Americans, thank you for your prayers, thank you for your compassion, thank you for your love for one another. And tomorrow when you get back to work, work hard like you always have. But we've been warned. We've been warned there are evil people in this world. We've been warned so vividly - and we'll be alert. Your government is alert. The governors and mayors are alert that evil folks still lurk out there.

As I said yesterday, people have declared war on America, and they have made a terrible mistake, because this is a fabulous country. Our economy will come back. We'll still be the best farmers and ranchers in the world. We're still the most innovative entrepreneurs in the world. On this day of faith, I've never had more faith in America than I have right now.

We need to go back to work tomorrow and we will. But we need to be alert to the fact that these evil-doers still exist. We haven't seen this kind of barbarism in a long period of time. No one could have conceivably imagined suicide bombers burrowing into our society and then emerging all in the same day to fly their aircraft - fly U.S. aircraft into buildings full of innocent people - and show no remorse. This is a new kind of -- a new kind of evil. And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while. And the American people must be patient. I'm going to be patient.

But I can assure the American people I am determined, I'm not going to be distracted, I will keep my focus to make sure that not only are these brought to justice, but anybody who's been associated will be brought to justice. Those who harbor terrorists will be brought to justice. It is time for us to win the first war of the 21st century decisively, so that our children and our grandchildren can live peacefully into the 21st century.

And the Crusade goes on and on. One budding theocracy and its Army of God to attack a theocracy in full bloom. The correct date for the Breaking News item above was of course

washingtonpost.com

Bush Says Strikes on Iraq Begin

Associated Press Wednesday, March 19, 2003; 10:29 PM

And Iraq, Saddam Hussein, Baghdad etc. had been updated to the current situation. Associated Press and Washington Post might as well use the article when Iranian Evil-Doers are bombed.

Andra bloggar om: Bush, Iran, Ahmadinejad, Irak, krig, religion, korståg, fundamentalism, USA, politik - Intressant

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