George W. Bush

Sounding far from defensive, however, a forceful Bush said repeatedly that he had made the right decision to oust Saddam Hussein. "It's a war of necessity," Bush said, declaring that he had "no choice" but to attack because the Iraqi dictator was a dangerous "madman."

Speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, in the most substantial shift so far from his previous position that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction, Bush said Saddam's ability to produce such weapons, and his history of acquiring and using them, constituted sufficient grounds for the "regime change" in Baghdad.

"The man was a threat, and we dealt with him," Bush said.

On Feb. 6, Bush named a seven-member commission to investigate the nation's intelligence operations.

The Japan Times Weekly: Feb. 14, 2004
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