Our Board of Director's Position on Iraq has been one of full support of the UN
process for disarming Saddam Hussein through diplomatic means. On March 17th,
2003 the President of the United States
George Bush
ended UN diplomacy saying:
“All the decades of deceit
and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq
within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict,
commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety, all foreign nationals
-- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave Iraq immediately”
We, at Virtualology, are resolved to fully
support the President's decision and urge our patrons to actively support the
Allied men and women in this second Gulf War campaign against Saddam Hussein.
Our prayers and thoughts are especially with the millions of innocent Iraq
citizens in harms way. We take heart and firmly believe in the closing remarks
of the US President:
“As we enforce the just
demands of the world, we will also honor the deepest commitments of our country.
Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi people are deserving and capable of
human liberty. And when the dictator has departed, they can set an example to
all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful and self-governing nation.
The United States, with
other countries, will work to advance liberty and peace in that region. Our goal
will not be achieved overnight, but it can come over time. The power and appeal
of human liberty is felt in every life and every land. And the greatest power of
freedom is to overcome hatred and violence, and turn the creative gifts of men
and women to the pursuits of peace.”
As strong as our support is for the Allied
forces and President Bush we ask for US restraint and reflection on calls to
Boycott French Goods. We, the people of the United States, must never forget
that France was the first superpower to recognize our independence after the
Battle of
Saratoga in 1777. It was France who provided
George Washington and the Continental Congress with direly needed loans and
government grants to conduct the American War for Independence.
It was France, in the final campaign of the
Revolutionary War, that trapped our enemy's flight from
Yorktown
to sea. It was France that set the stage for our
Treaty of Paris
with Great Britain that gave the United States its Independence which has been
the beacon of Liberty for 226 years.
Surrender of Cornwallis to Washington at
Yorktown
In 1783 after the Treaty of
Paris our fledgling government under the
Articles of Confederation was in virtual bankruptcy.
It was France who came time and time again to our aid with millions of
francs to stabilize our economy and help build this great nation.
It was France in 1803 that sold us the
Louisiana
purchase for a mere 3 cents an acre doubling the size of the United States.
It was also France who held the line against German
aggression in World
War I enabling the US and other Allies to defeat the Kaiser and his armies
of terror and destruction.
Source: This map was downloaded from the
Perry-Castañeda
Library Map Collection of the University of Texas at Austin. This map is
Territorial Growth 1810 from the U.S. National Atlas, 1970. It has been cropped
by web authors at the James Madison Center of James Madison University. It is
online available:
http://www.jmu.edu/madison/louispurchase.htm
Many in the United States, in the case of
Iraq, have been too quick to denounce all French citizens as we wave our flags
regurgitating our heroic actions of France’s liberation in
World War II.
In this Iraq Campaign the US must learn to understand France rather then seek to
be understood. France is the United States oldest ally and the Mother of Our
Independence.
We, therefore, categorically reject all
calls to boycott French goods. We know that once the French people discover the
inevitable facts surrounding their leader’s complicity or non-complicity in
Hussein’s Regime they will act responsibly in the beacon of liberty with
ballots.
Stanley L. Klos
President
Virtualology, Inc.
Carnegie, PA 15106
(412)-279-9060
President
Says Saddam Hussein Must Leave Iraq Within 48 Hours
Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation The Cross Hall
8:01 P.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now reached the
final days of decision. For more than a decade, the United States and other
nations have pursued patient and honorable efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime
without war. That regime pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of mass
destruction as a condition for ending the Persian Gulf War in 1991.
Since then, the world has engaged in 12 years of diplomacy. We have passed
more than a dozen resolutions in the United Nations Security Council. We have
sent hundreds of weapons inspectors to oversee the disarmament of Iraq. Our good
faith has not been returned.
The Iraqi regime has used diplomacy as a ploy to gain time and advantage.
It has uniformly defied Security Council resolutions demanding full disarmament.
Over the years, U.N. weapon inspectors have been threatened by Iraqi officials,
electronically bugged, and systematically deceived. Peaceful efforts to disarm
the Iraqi regime have failed again and again -- because we are not dealing with
peaceful men.
Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that
the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons
ever devised. This regime has already used weapons of mass destruction against
Iraq's neighbors and against Iraq's people.
The regime has a history of reckless aggression in the Middle East. It has
a deep hatred of America and our friends. And it has aided, trained and harbored
terrorists, including operatives of al Qaeda.
The danger is clear: using chemical, biological or, one day, nuclear
weapons, obtained with the help of Iraq, the terrorists could fulfill their
stated ambitions and kill thousands or hundreds of thousands of innocent people
in our country, or any other.
The United States and other nations did nothing to deserve or invite this
threat. But we will do everything to defeat it. Instead of drifting along toward
tragedy, we will set a course toward safety. Before the day of horror can come,
before it is too late to act, this danger will be removed.
The United States of America has the sovereign authority to use force in
assuring its own national security. That duty falls to me, as
Commander-in-Chief, by the oath I have sworn, by the oath I will keep.
Recognizing the threat to our country, the United States Congress voted
overwhelmingly last year to support the use of force against Iraq. America tried
to work with the United Nations to address this threat because we wanted to
resolve the issue peacefully. We believe in the mission of the United Nations.
One reason the U.N. was founded after the second world war was to confront
aggressive dictators, actively and early, before they can attack the innocent
and destroy the peace.
In the case of Iraq, the Security Council did act, in the early 1990s.
Under Resolutions 678 and 687 -- both still in effect -- the United States and
our allies are authorized to use force in ridding Iraq of weapons of mass
destruction. This is not a question of authority, it is a question of will.
Last September, I went to the U.N. General Assembly and urged the nations
of the world to unite and bring an end to this danger. On November 8th, the
Security Council unanimously passed Resolution 1441, finding Iraq in material
breach of its obligations, and vowing serious consequences if Iraq did not fully
and immediately disarm.
Today, no nation can possibly claim that Iraq has disarmed. And it will
not disarm so long as Saddam Hussein holds power. For the last four-and-a-half
months, the United States and our allies have worked within the Security Council
to enforce that Council's long-standing demands. Yet, some permanent members of
the Security Council have publicly announced they will veto any resolution that
compels the disarmament of Iraq. These governments share our assessment of the
danger, but not our resolve to meet it. Many nations, however, do have the
resolve and fortitude to act against this threat to peace, and a broad coalition
is now gathering to enforce the just demands of the world. The United Nations
Security Council has not lived up to its responsibilities, so we will rise to
ours.
In recent days, some governments in the Middle East have been doing their
part. They have delivered public and private messages urging the dictator to
leave Iraq, so that disarmament can proceed peacefully. He has thus far refused.
All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end. Saddam Hussein
and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result
in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. For their own safety,
all foreign nationals -- including journalists and inspectors -- should leave
Iraq immediately.
Many Iraqis can hear me tonight in a translated radio broadcast, and I
have a message for them. If we must begin a military campaign, it will be
directed against the lawless men who rule your country and not against you. As
our coalition takes away their power, we will deliver the food and medicine you
need. We will tear down the apparatus of terror and we will help you to build a
new Iraq that is prosperous and free. In a free Iraq, there will be no more wars
of aggression against your neighbors, no more poison factories, no more
executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms. The tyrant
will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near.
It is too late for Saddam Hussein to remain in power. It is not too late
for the Iraqi military to act with honor and protect your country by permitting
the peaceful entry of coalition forces to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.
Our forces will give Iraqi military units clear instructions on actions they can
take to avoid being attacked and destroyed. I urge every member of the Iraqi
military and intelligence services, if war comes, do not fight for a dying
regime that is not worth your own life.
And all Iraqi military and civilian personnel should listen carefully to
this warning. In any conflict, your fate will depend on your action. Do not
destroy oil wells, a source of wealth that belongs to the Iraqi people. Do not
obey any command to use weapons of mass destruction against anyone, including
the Iraqi people. War crimes will be prosecuted. War criminals will be punished.
And it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders."
Should Saddam Hussein choose confrontation, the American people can know
that every measure has been taken to avoid war, and every measure will be taken
to win it. Americans understand the costs of conflict because we have paid them
in the past. War has no certainty, except the certainty of sacrifice.
Yet, the only way to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the
full force and might of our military, and we are prepared to do so. If Saddam
Hussein attempts to cling to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end.
In desperation, he and terrorists groups might try to conduct terrorist
operations against the American people and our friends. These attacks are not
inevitable. They are, however, possible. And this very fact underscores the
reason we cannot live under the threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to
America and the world will be diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is
disarmed.
Our government is on heightened watch against these dangers. Just as we
are preparing to ensure victory in Iraq, we are taking further actions to
protect our homeland. In recent days, American authorities have expelled from
the country certain individuals with ties to Iraqi intelligence services. Among
other measures, I have directed additional security of our airports, and
increased Coast Guard patrols of major seaports. The Department of Homeland
Security is working closely with the nation's governors to increase armed
security at critical facilities across America.
Should enemies strike our country, they would be attempting to shift our
attention with panic and weaken our morale with fear. In this, they would fail.
No act of theirs can alter the course or shake the resolve of this country. We
are a peaceful people -- yet we're not a fragile people, and we will not be
intimidated by thugs and killers. If our enemies dare to strike us, they and all
who have aided them, will face fearful consequences.
We are now acting because the risks of inaction would be far greater. In
one year, or five years, the power of Iraq to inflict harm on all free nations
would be multiplied many times over. With these capabilities, Saddam Hussein and
his terrorist allies could choose the moment of deadly conflict when they are
strongest. We choose to meet that threat now, where it arises, before it can
appear suddenly in our skies and cities.
The cause of peace requires all free nations to recognize new and
undeniable realities. In the 20th century, some chose to appease murderous
dictators, whose threats were allowed to grow into genocide and global war. In
this century, when evil men plot chemical, biological and nuclear terror, a
policy of appeasement could bring destruction of a kind never before seen on
this earth.
Terrorists and terror states do not reveal these threats with fair notice,
in formal declarations -- and responding to such enemies only after they have
struck first is not self-defense, it is suicide. The security of the world
requires disarming Saddam Hussein now.
As we enforce the just demands of the world, we will also honor the
deepest commitments of our country. Unlike Saddam Hussein, we believe the Iraqi
people are deserving and capable of human liberty. And when the dictator has
departed, they can set an example to all the Middle East of a vital and peaceful
and self-governing nation.
The United States, with other countries, will work to advance liberty and
peace in that region. Our goal will not be achieved overnight, but it can come
over time. The power and appeal of human liberty is felt in every life and every
land. And the greatest power of freedom is to overcome hatred and violence, and
turn the creative gifts of men and women to the pursuits of peace.
That is the future we choose. Free nations have a duty to defend our
people by uniting against the violent. And tonight, as we have done before,
America and our allies accept that responsibility.
Good night, and may God continue to bless America.
END 8:15 P.M. EST
