The U.S.-led coalition is moving closer to its goal of disarming and removing the regime of Saddam Hussein. When it is over, as President George W. Bush said, the people of Iraq will have a chance for a better life:
"Our victory will mean the end of a tyrant who rules by fear and torture. Our victory will remove a sponsor of terror, armed with weapons of terror. Our victory will uphold the just demands of the United Nations and the civilized world. And when victory comes, it will be shared by the long-suffering people of Iraq, who deserve freedom and dignity."
The U.S.-led coalition has taken control of most of western and southern Iraq. It has opened a northern front. It has destroyed missile launch sites that threatened neighboring countries. It has prevented Saddam Hussein from destroying Iraq's oil fields. And it is delivering tons of humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people.
The dying regime of Saddam Hussein continues to use fear and murder in a vain effort to cling to power. Iraqis have been ordered to fight the coalition or die at the hands of Saddam's death squads. Other Iraqis are forced to fight because their children have been threatened with death. And as President Bush said, Iraqi civilians who try to escape to liberated areas have been shot by Saddam's thugs:
"Schools and hospitals have been used to store military equipment. They serve as bases for military operations. Iraqis who show friendship toward coalition troops are murdered in cold blood by the regime's enforcers. The people of Iraq have lived in this nightmare world for more than two decades."
The U.S-led coalition is now in the process of bringing that nightmare to an end.
