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"Ich werde beim Kongress 87 Milliarden Dollar beantragen"
"I will soon submit to Congress a request for 87 billion dollars"

Der Text der Fernsehansprache von US-Präsident Bush - und eine Antwort aus der amerikanischen Friedensbewegung
Text of President Bush's Speech - and the answer ("A.N.S.W.E.R.") of the american peace movement

Im Folgenden dokumentieren wir
  1. die jüngste Fernsehansprache des US-Präsidenten George W. Bush vom 7. September 2003, die von allen großen TV-Stationen des Landes ausgestrahlt wurde.
  2. Als Zugabe hängen wir eine Antwort aus der amerikanischen Friedensbewegung auf die Bush-Rede an. Sie wurde unmittelbar nach der Ansprache formuliert von "A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
Von Bushs Rede waren neue Aufschlüsse über die Strategie der US-Regierung in Irak erwartet worden. Bei nüchterner Betrachtung gibt es aber nicht allzuviel Neues zu vermelden.

Zum Inhalt der Rede

Die wichtigsten Punkte der Präsidenten-Rede sind folgende:

George Bush spricht von einer dreifachen Strategie der USA im Irak:
  • die Zerschlagung des Terrorismus (v.a. durch die Fortsetzung gezielter Aktionen und "präziser Schläge gegen feindliche Ziele"); Bush weist auf den Erfolg der bisherigen Aktionen hin: 42 der 55 meist gesuchten ehemaligen irakischen Führungspersonen sind schon getötet oder in Gefangenschaft;
  • das Werben um die Unterstützung anderer Nationen für den Aufbau eines "freien Irak"; Bush verweist darauf, dass die USA zur Zeit mit 130.000 Soldaten im Irak stehen, mehr als 20.000 werden von weiteren 29 Ländern gestellt; das macht bisher - neben den US-Kräften - zwei "multinationale Divisionen", die eine unter Führung Großbritanniens, die andere unter Führung Polens; verlangt werde aber eine dritte multinationale Truppe; da einige Staaten dazu ein UN-Mandat wünschen, habe Bush seinen Außenminister angewiesen, eine entsprechende Resolution in den Sicherheitsrat einzubringen; die Vereinten Nationen hätten nun die Chance und die Verantwortung, eine größere Rolle im Irak einzunehmen;
  • und die Hilfe für die Iraker, Verantwortung für ihre eigene Verteidigung und ihre Zukunft übernehmen zu können; Bush verweist in dem Zusammenhang auf den regierenden Rat und die von ihm eingesetzte "Regierung"; 60.000 Iraker sind bereits unter Waffen und verteidigen ihr Land bzw. dienen als Polizisten; in 90 Prozent der Städte gibt es funktionierende lokale Regierungen; Bush wörtlich: "Unsere Koalition kam als Befreier in den Irak und wir möchten den Irak als Befreier wieder verlassen."
Dies alles geht nicht ohne neue Mittel. Daher wird der Präsident im Kongress allein für das nächste Haushaltsjahr zusätzlich 87 Milliarden Dollar beantragen. 66 Mrd. Dollar davon sollen die andauernden militärischen und Geheimdienstoperationen "in Irak, Afghanistan und anderswo" finanzieren helfen. Der Rest von 21 Mrd. solle dem Wiederaufbau in Irak und Afghanistan zugute kommen.

Im Übrigen wiederholt George Bush Bekanntes:
Etwa das Credo, dass man Härte zeigen müsse. Terrorismus werde nicht durch harte Maßnahmen verursacht, vielmehr würden Terroristen ermutigt, wenn man Schwäche zeige. Oder etwa die Überzeugung, der beste Weg, sich vor Terroranschlägen im eigenen Land zu schützen, sei es, den Gegner dort zu treffen, wo er lebt und seine Pläne schmiedet. Daher das US-Engagement in Irak und Afghanistan.
Am Ende seiner Rede kommt Bush zu seiner bei solchen Gelegenheiten fast schon obligatorischen Lobpreisung der amerikanischen Soldaten, die "an den Frontlinien der Freiheit" (hier zitiert er aus einen Brief eines Hauptmanns) ihren Dienst tun. Und er stimmt die Bevölkerung ("fellow citizens") darauf ein, dass die Prüfungen der letzten zwei Jahre und die Gefahren nicht vorbei seien. Alles was Amerika tue, geschehe um der Freiheit Willen, und das sei gleichzeitig das Anliegen der ganzen Menschheit.

Im Folgenden also die Rede in der amerikanischen Originalfassung.


September 7, 2003

Text of President Bush's speech Sunday night on the situation in Iraq.

Good evening. I have asked for this time to keep you informed of America's actions in the war on terror.

Nearly two years ago, following deadly attacks on our country, we began a systematic campaign against terrorism. These months have been a time of new responsibilities and sacrifice and national resolve and great progress.

America and a broad coalition acted first in Afghanistan, by destroying the training camps of terror, and removing the regime that harbored al-Qaida. In a series of raids and actions around the world, nearly two-thirds of al-Qaida's known leaders have been captured or killed, and we continue on al-Qaida's trail.

We have exposed terrorist front groups, seized terrorist accounts, taken new measures to protect our homeland, and uncovered sleeper cells inside the United States. And we acted in Iraq, where the former regime sponsored terror, possessed and used weapons of mass destruction, and for 12 years defied the clear demands of the United Nations Security Council. Our coalition enforced these international demands in one of the swiftest and most humane military campaigns in history.

For a generation leading up to September the 11th, 2001, terrorists and their radical allies attacked innocent people in the Middle East and beyond, without facing a sustained and serious response. The terrorists became convinced that free nations were decadent and weak. And they grew bolder, believing that history was on their side.

Since America put out the fires of September the 11th, and mourned our dead, and went to war, history has taken a different turn. We have carried the fight to the enemy. We are rolling back the terrorist threat to civilization, not on the fringes of its influence, but at the heart of its power.

This work continues. In Iraq, we are helping the long-suffering people of that country to build a decent and democratic society at the center of the Middle East. Together we are transforming a place of torture chambers and mass graves into a nation of laws and free institutions. This undertaking is difficult and costly -- yet worthy of our country, and critical to our security.

The Middle East will either become a place of progress and peace, or it will be an exporter of violence and terror that takes more lives in America and in other free nations. The triumph of democracy and tolerance in Iraq, in Afghanistan and beyond would be a grave setback for international terrorism.

The terrorists thrive on the support of tyrants and the resentments of oppressed peoples. When tyrants fall, and resentment gives way to hope, men and women in every culture reject the ideologies of terror, and turn to the pursuits of peace. Everywhere that freedom takes hold, terror will retreat.

Our enemies understand this. They know that a free Iraq will be free of them -- free of assassins, and torturers, and secret police. They know that as democracy rises in Iraq, all of their hateful ambitions will fall like the statues of the former dictator. And that is why, five months after we liberated Iraq, a collection of killers is desperately trying to undermine Iraq's progress and throw the country into chaos.

Some of the attackers are members of the old Saddam regime, who fled the battlefield and now fight in the shadows. Some of the attackers are foreign terrorists, who have come to Iraq to pursue their war on America and other free nations. We cannot be certain to what extent these groups work together. We do know they have a common goal -- reclaiming Iraq for tyranny.

Most, but not all, of these killers operate in one area of the country. The attacks you have heard and read about in the last few weeks have occurred predominantly in the central region of Iraq, between Baghdad and Tikrit -- Saddam Hussein's former stronghold. The north of Iraq is generally stable and is moving forward with reconstruction and self-government. The same trends are evident in the South, despite recent attacks by terrorist groups.

Though their attacks are localized, the terrorists and Saddam loyalists have done great harm. They have ambushed American and British service members who stand for freedom and order. They have killed civilian aid workers of the United Nations who represent the compassion and generosity of the world. They have bombed the Jordanian embassy -- the symbol of a peaceful Arab country. And last week they murdered a respected cleric and over a hundred Muslims at prayer -- bombing a holy shrine and a symbol of Islam's peaceful teachings.

This violence is directed, not only against our coalition, but against anyone in Iraq who stands for decency, and freedom, and progress.

There is more at work in these attacks than blind rage. The terrorists have a strategic goal. They want us to leave Iraq before our work is done. They want to shake the will of the civilized world. In the past, the terrorists have cited the examples of Beirut and Somalia, claiming that if you inflict harm on Americans, we will run from a challenge. In this, they are mistaken.

Two years ago, I told the Congress and the country that the war on terror would be a lengthy war, a different kind of war, fought on many fronts in many places. Iraq is now the central front. Enemies of freedom are making a desperate stand there -- and there they must be defeated. This will take time, and require sacrifice.

Yet, we will do what is necessary, we will spend what is necessary, to achieve this essential victory in the war on terror, to promote freedom, and to make our own Nation more secure.

America has done this kind of work before. Following World War II, we lifted up the defeated nations of Japan and Germany, and stood with them as they built representative governments. We committed years and resources to this cause. And that effort has been repaid many times over in three generations of friendship and peace. America today accepts the challenge of helping Iraq in the same spirit -- for their sake, and our own.

Our strategy in Iraq has three objectives -- destroying the terrorists -- enlisting the support of other nations for a free Iraq -- and helping Iraqis assume responsibility for their own defense and their own future.

First, we are taking direct action against the terrorists in the Iraqi theater, which is the surest way to prevent future attacks on coalition forces and the Iraqi people. We are staying on the offensive, with a series of precise strikes against enemy targets increasingly guided by intelligence given to us by Iraqi citizens.

Since the end of major combat operations, we have conducted raids seizing many caches of enemy weapons and massive amounts of ammunition, and we have captured or killed hundreds of Saddam loyalists and terrorists. So far, of the 55 most wanted former Iraqi leaders, 42 are dead or in custody. We are sending a clear message: Anyone who seeks to harm our soldiers can know that our soldiers are hunting for them.

Second, we are committed to expanding international cooperation in the reconstruction and security of Iraq, just as we are in Afghanistan. Our military commanders in Iraq advise me that the current number of American troops -- nearly 130,000 -- is appropriate to their mission. They are joined by over 20,000 service members from 29 other countries.

Two multinational divisions, led by the British and the Poles, are serving alongside our forces -- and in order to share the burden more broadly, our commanders have requested a third multinational division to serve in Iraq.

Some countries have requested an explicit authorization of the United Nations Security Council before committing troops to Iraq. I have directed Secretary of State Colin Powell to introduce a new Security Council resolution which would authorize the creation of a multinational force in Iraq, to be led by America.

I recognize that not all of our friends agreed with our decision to enforce the Security Council resolutions and remove Saddam Hussein from power. Yet, we cannot let past differences interfere with present duties.

Terrorists in Iraq have attacked representatives of the civilized world, and opposing them must be the cause of the civilized world. Members of the United Nations now have an opportunity, and the responsibility, to assume a broader role in assuring that Iraq becomes a free and democratic nation.

Third, we are encouraging the orderly transfer of sovereignty and authority to the Iraqi people. Our coalition came to Iraq as liberators and we will depart as liberators. Right now Iraq has its own Governing Council, comprised of 25 leaders representing Iraq's diverse people. The Governing Council recently appointed cabinet ministers to run government departments.

Already more than 90 percent of towns and cities have functioning local governments, which are restoring basic services. We are helping to train civil defense forces to keep order -- and an Iraqi police service to enforce the law -- a facilities protection service -- Iraqi border guards to help secure the borders -- and a new Iraqi army.

In all these roles, there are now some 60,000 Iraqi citizens under arms, defending the security of their own country -- and we are accelerating the training of more.

Iraq is ready to take the next steps toward self-government. The Security Council resolution we introduce will encourage Iraq's Governing Council to submit a plan and a timetable for the drafting of a constitution, and for free elections.

From the outset, I have expressed confidence in the ability of the Iraqi people to govern themselves. Now they must rise to the responsibilities of a free people and secure the blessings of their own liberty.

Our strategy in Iraq will require new resources. We have conducted a thorough assessment of our military and reconstruction needs in Iraq, and also in Afghanistan. I will soon submit to Congress a request for 87 billion dollars. The request will cover ongoing military and intelligence operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, which we expect will cost 66 billion dollars over the next year.

This budget request will also support our commitment to helping the Iraqi and Afghan people rebuild their own nations, after decades of oppression and mismanagement. We will provide funds to help them improve security. And we will help them to restore basic services, such as electricity and water, and to build new schools, roads, and medical clinics.

This effort is essential to the stability of those nations, and therefore to our own security. Now and in the future, we will support our troops and we will keep our word to the more than 50 million people of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Later this month, Secretary Powell will meet with representatives of many nations to discuss their financial contributions to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. Next month, he will hold a similar funding conference for the reconstruction of Iraq. Europe, Japan and states in the Middle East all will benefit from the success of freedom in these two countries, and they should contribute to that success.

The people of Iraq are emerging from a long trial. For them, there will be no going back to the days of the dictator -- to the miseries of humiliation he inflicted on that good country. For the Middle East and the world, there will be no going back to the days of fear -- when a brutal and aggressive tyrant possessed terrible weapons.

And for America, there will be no going back to the era before September the 11th, 2001 -- to false comfort in a dangerous world. We have learned that terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength -- they are invited by the perception of weakness.

And the surest way to avoid attacks on our own people is to engage the enemy where he lives and plans. We are fighting that enemy in Iraq and Afghanistan today, so that we do not meet him again on our own streets, in our own cities.

The heaviest burdens in our war on terror fall, as always, on the men and women of our armed forces and our intelligence services. They have removed gathering threats to America and our friends, and this nation takes great pride in their incredible achievements.

We are grateful for their skill and courage, and for their acts of decency, which have shown America's character to the world. We honor the sacrifice of their families. And we mourn every American who has died so bravely, so far from home.

The Americans who assume great risks overseas understand the great cause they are in. Not long ago I received a letter from a captain in the 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad. He wrote about his pride in serving a just cause, and about the deep desire of Iraqis for liberty.

"I see it," he said, "in the eyes of a hungry people every day here. They are starved for freedom and opportunity." And he concluded, "I just thought you'd like a note from the 'front lines of freedom."' That Army captain, and all of our men and women serving in the war on terror, are on the front lines of freedom. And I want each of them to know: Your country thanks you, and your country supports you.

Fellow citizens: We have been tested these past 24 months, and the dangers have not passed. Yet Americans are responding with courage and confidence. We accept the duties of our generation. We are active and resolute in our own defense. We are serving in freedom's cause -- and that is the cause of all mankind.

Thank you, and may God continue to bless America.

Quelle: http://usinfo.state.gov)



A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION RESPONDS TO PRESIDENT BUSH'S NATIONAL TELEVISION ADDRESS OF SEPTEMBER 7, 2003

President Bush's illegal war and occupation of Iraq has left the Administration in a position of extreme political vulnerability. He now wants the United Nations and U.S. taxpayers to bail him out. Having defied U.S. and world public opinion - which preemptively opposed his planned, illegal invasion of Iraq - the Bush administration wants to internationalize responsibility for the U.S. quagmire in Iraq. With U.S. casualties mounting daily he wants the soldiers of other countries to do more of the dying to take the heat off himself at home. And in the name of fighting international terrorism he wants the already suffering working class, poor and middle class communities to foot the bill to the tune of another $87 billion (triple what they had projected). Having had his public rationale(s) for the war exposed in recent weeks as a complete fraud, Bush shamelessly reverts to the time-tested tactic of trying to scare the hell out of people.

President Bush's conduct on Iraq - before, during and now after the Iraq war - has made the old clich‚ about truth being the "first casualty in war" to be a grand understatement. Everything about this "pre-emptive war" is premised on deceit. Even in the realm of ever duplicitous "world politics," the Administration's pattern of cynical deception was and remains breathtaking. Tonight's nationally televised address conforms to this pattern of endless deceit.

1) Bush lied before the war. Iraq never posed a grave and imminent danger to the United States. Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th. Iraq never possessed nuclear weapons. Iraq was not rapidly trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. This was a war of aggression against the second-largest oil producer on the planet that had been weakened by a decade of economic sanctions and political isolation.

2) Bush lied during the war. This was not liberation. The Iraqi people did not welcome the U.S. armed forces as liberators but as occupiers. Their lives did not become better. On the contrary, this culturally rich society has been torn apart, deprived of necessary services to sustain civilian society and on the brink of internal collapse.

3) Bush is lying now. Iraq is not the battlefield between "international terrorism" and the forces of so-called "freedom" and "civilization." The growing resistance to U.S. occupation is the consequence of an angry and proud people in Iraq who insist on reclaiming their own sovereignty. Having killed tens of thousands of Iraqis in an illegal invasion - and a growing number of dead and maimed U.S. soldiers - the Bush team wants U.S. taxpayers to spend at least another $87 billion on the occupation of Iraq. The vast majority sentiment in Iraq wants the U.S. soldiers to leave and the U.S. GIs want to go home. The Iraqi people's call to end the occupation is not a call for even more foreign nations to occupy it and to take a share in the looting of Iraq's natural resources. The truth is that the invasion and occupation of Iraq is viewed by the people of the Middle East as an act of "international terrorism" and as such it can only lead to a dangerous escalation in the cycle of violence.

Why did Bush address the nation tonight? He, like Nixon a generation ago, fears that the people of the United States are turning against this criminal war. During his administration, Bush has only rarely felt that he must address the people, and does so when he fears that a sentiment is growing strong enough to challenge his illegal actions. He must then lie more to convince the people of the U.S. to support his criminal endeavors, or at least acquiesce in them. His shameful "top gun" act aboard the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Lincoln, in front of a "Mission Accomplished" banner, was an effort to tell people in the United States and around the world that the war was over and that no more critical attention need be focused on Iraq. Tonight, with that lie laid bare, he is seeking to go a new route, to convince people that far from being over, the war is a high stakes game to save "civilization" and "freedom" and that it requires endless sacrifice in human life and vitally needed resources.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition calls on people in the United States to join together for a massive demonstration in Washington DC on October 25th to demand "Bring the Troops Home Now, End the Occupation of Iraq." Tens of thousands will be in the streets that day as the antiwar movement picks up new momentum. For information about transportation to Washington DC or to get literature go to

http://www.internationalanswer.org




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