Essay - State of the Union Address as the United States Faces...

State of the Union Address

As the United States faces the very real possibility of going to war against Iraq, possibly within the next few weeks, it is worthwhile to see what the President of the ***** States has had ***** say about the situation and whe*****r h***** comments hold up to close scrutiny.

In his State of the ***** Address on January 28 ***** t***** year, President George W. Bush made a str*****g effort to try ***** convince American citizens that if we ended up going to war against Iraq, this action would be justified, and that this action--along with the ongoing ********** on Terrorism--serve ***** ***** public well. One way to consider the truth of claims ***** be to look for specific details and confirmation of facts stated in other sources. On the War on Terrorism, Bush said, "There's never a day when I do not learn ***** another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress, or give an order ***** this global war ***** a scattered network ***** killers." (Bush, 2003) He specified joint efforts with other countries, with the goal to prevent future terrorist attacks. These efforts haven't been 100% successful, as the recent terrorist attack on the nightclub in Bali demonstrate, but Bush noted ***** with other countries, the coalition formed to combat terrorist attacks had thwarted attempts on "the Americ***** embassy in Yemen, ***** American ***** in Singapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the Straits of Hormuz ***** ***** Straits the Gibraltar." ***** also noted that several ***** cells hade been broken ***** in Germany, Italy, Spain, England and France as well as in the United States.

***** from March 10, 2003 confirmed ***** these efforts continue with the announcement that a top al-Qaida leader had been arrested in Pakistan. Records found in this person's quarters confirmed that he ***** met ***** Osama bin Laden in December, and provided ********** that may lead to ***** Laden's capture (Gannon, 2003).

In his State ***** the Union Speech, Bush also drew ties between ***** ***** on Terror ***** c*****cerns regarding Iraq. He *****, "Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger fac*****g America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek ***** possess nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror, ***** mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to terrorist allies, who would ***** them without the least hesitation." (Bush, 2003) One troublesome aspect of ***** part of the speech was that Bush implied ***** our government might have concerns about multiple leaders, and not just Iraq's Hussein, but also the rest of this part of the ***** focused on Iraq. Bush also used persuasive rhetoric, referring to these renegade leaders' philosophies as "Hitlerism," which served the purpose ***** emphasizing the need ***** act if Hussein will not conform to modern laws regarding weaponry.

Specifically drawing a tie between terrorism ***** Iraq, Bush described Saddam ***** as a man with