March 20, 2003

"The coalition began military operations in Iraq earlier this morning.

We have determined that after 12 years of defiance and deception, the time has come to put an end to Saddam Hussein's threat to his own people, to the region and to the world community. Military action would not have been our preferred course, but we know that this course is right and unfortunately it is necessary.

We've had very extensive conversations and discussions with the Romanian Government over the past several weeks. Most recently I met yesterday with the Prime Minister and with the President to discuss our evaluation of the situation. That was of course before President Bush made this decision to move forward with military action. Vice President Cheney called President Iliescu late last night to discuss this further and this morning I have spoken with the Prime Minister, with the Foreign Minister, with the Defense Minister and with Mr. Talpes. Our coordination and our discussions are very intense. They will remain so, and I do want to say that we appreciate very much the strong partnership that we have with the Romanian Government on this issue and on many others. We appreciate the support of the Romanian people as well.

I pray that God will bless our soldiers and our countries and will protect us, and that God will protect the Iraqi people. We hope that this mission will be as short as possible. Every effort will be made to preserve lives, every effort will be made to provide humanitarian relief."