And so we looked at the facts, and said, this guy is a threat. That's what we looked at. And then we all looked at the intelligence, as well. And my administration looked at it, and the United States Congress looked at it -- members of both parties in the Congress looked at that intelligence -- my opponent looked at that intelligence -- (applause) -- and we all came to the same conclusion: Saddam Hussein was a threat.

Now, I recognize it's important to rally the world on issues such as these. And so I went to the United Nations and said, we think he's a threat. What do you think? And the United Nations Security Council voted 15 to nothing saying -- and here's what they said. They said, we think you're a threat, so disclose, disarm, or face serious consequences. That's what the world said. By the way, it's not the first time the world had said it, is it? The world had been saying it for over a decade. And every time the world said it, Saddam kind of -- didn't take it very seriously. And he became dangerous.
 
And so I had a choice to make. I had a choice as to whether or not to trust this madman, to trust whether or not we would be more secure with him in -- in his own country, defying the demands of the free world once again. This is a guy who had used weapons of mass destruction. Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th, or do what I think is necessary to protect this country? Given that choice, I'll protect America every time. (Applause.)

You know, they ask you, they say, well, you haven't found the stockpiles you thought were going to be there. And they're right. We thought there would be stockpiles of weapons there. But we do know that he had the capability of making weapons. And we do know that he had the capability of passing that knowledge on to an enemy which hates us. He was dangerous. Knowing what I know today, I would have still made the same decision. The world is better off, and America is safer. (Applause.) No question about it.

Let me tell you something. I want you all to think about a world in which Saddam Hussein was still in power. He was an enemy out there. He'd have been stronger if he had been in power still. The world is safer, and America is safer, because he sits in a prison cell.
I want to share a story with you about seven Iraqi citizens who came to see me in the Oval Office. The Oval Office is a powerful place. It's the kind of place where my mother walks in and feels so overwhelmed, she won't tell me what to do. (Laughter and applause.) That's powerful. In walk seven Iraqis. They had -- they had all had their right hands cut off by Saddam Hussein. You know why?

Because they -- the dinar had declined in value -- that was his currency -- and he was looking for a scapegoat. And he found these seven small merchants, small business people. I asked one guy, why you? And he said, well, he happened to sell dinars on that particular day to buy -- I think he said euros, so he could buy gold to make jewelry. And he just sold on the wrong day, because he got plucked out of the population, and like his other six friends there, had his right hand cut off and an "X" branded into his forehead.
And these fellows walk into the Oval Office -- the reason why is, is there was a fellow named Marvin Zindler, he's a newsman out of Houston -- there you go -- who heard of their plight. He had done well, set up a foundation, flew them over to Houston so they could outfitted with new hands. (Applause.) The contrast between a society where one person gets to decide the fate of somebody's right hand, and a society that's willing to raise people who contribute to heal the hands is the difference between Iraq and totalitarianism and tyranny, and a free country like America. (Applause.)

It's hard work. It is hard work to go from a society in which somebody can cut your right hand off just like that, to a society that adopts the responsibilities and habits of a free country. And that's what you're seeing. You're seeing that conversion. And it's hard. I'm telling you, it's hard. But we've got some strong allies, staring with the Prime Minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Allawi. They tell me the story of him. He was in London, England. He was in exile from his country because Saddam hated him. He wakes up one night and an ax-wielding group of men tried to hatchet him to death, or ax him to death. I guess, you don't hatchet somebody with an ax. (Laughter.) And you don't ax them with a hatchet. (Laughter.) He wakes up, the glint of the blade coming at him, and he gets cut badly, escapes. The guy hit his wife who never recovered, really. So he's seen what it means to be chased down and tried to kill by a tyrant. He -- this guy believes that Iraq can and will be free.

See, step one is for there to be leadership. We need leadership in this world. We need people who believe in principles and are willing to stand on those principles and lead. (Applause.)

More and more Iraqis are now stepping up to defend their country against these killers, and that's -- that's what's going to happen. They got the choice to make: Do they want to be a free society, or do they want to be a society where mothers and dads cannot raise their children in a hopeful world. We believe -- I believe -- that moms and dads all over the world want to raise their children in peace and hope. That's what Americans believe. And therefore, it's important for us to stay side-by-side with these Iraqis, as they assume more responsibility to bring freedom to their country.

And a free Iraq and a free Afghanistan is a big step toward making the world more peaceful. See, all this action that's taken is to do two things: One, to defend ourselves, is to deal with the realities of the 21st century, is not turn a blind eye to the lessons of September the 11th; and to bring peace. I want these little kids in this audience in this hall to be growing up and going to college in a peaceful world. We got hard work to do, but peace is possible. (Applause.)

A couple of points I want to share with you about my philosophy. We'll work with allies and friends. Remember, we got 60 nations involved in what they call the Proliferation Security Initiative -- that's to help interdict weapons of mass destruction and technologies and equipment. We got nearly 40 in Afghanistan, nearly 30 in Iraq. But I'm not going to turn over national security decisions of this country to leaders of other -- other countries. (Applause.)

One other thing I want to assure you is that when we put our troops into harm's way, they'll have the support of this government. (Applause.) I want to thank our troops who are here. I want to thank the families of the troops who are here. (Applause.) Let me tell you something; I understand that these deployments are hard on wives and husbands and moms and dads and sons and daughters. I know that. And the very least we can do is to make sure your loved have got the best pay, the best training, that you've got the best possible housing, the best equipment.

This article is in four parts. This is part two.
Part 1  It's hard for the American people to understand the nature of somebody who's willing to kill an innocent child to achieve an objective.
Part 3   $87 billion, extra money, last September, to help our troops.
Part 4   Education pays off. It pays off when people take education seriously early in life.
 

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