Operation Welcome Home

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

General Colin Powell.

We're all very proud of those Marines and sailors.

We're also proud of the soldiers and the airmen

and the Coast Guardsmen,

all the G.I.s of our armed forces

who showed what this nation is capable of;

who showed that we stand for something

and, yes, we do more than stand for something.

We're willing to fight for something.

America loves them.

America is proud of them,

and America thanks them

for what they did for the cause of freedom.

I thought Saddam Hussein would realize that we were serious,

but he's even dumber than I thought he was

because once you send Bob Hope into a theater,

it usually means you're serious

and we're going to win.

But in the final analysis, it came down to brave,

young men and women who were willing to go in harm's way.

Summer, 1990.

America at peace.

A nation at play,

in pursuit of its values and traditions.

After 40 years of Cold War

and confrontation with the Soviets,

America was preparing for a peaceful future.

While America looked inward,

far off in Iraq, Saddam Hussein

was building the fourth largest army in the world

with weapons supplied by the Soviets

and the western alliance.

Ironically, some of the very nations

that would confront Saddam in Operation: Desert Storm.

Yet, beyond his military power,

the depth of Saddam 's brutality

was reflected in his repression at home

by public hangings

and the apocalyptic scenes at Halabja,

where he gassed to death over 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in 1988.

In building up his personality cult,

Saddam took a most dangerous gamble

when he surprised the world

by invading Kuwait on August 2, 1990.

It was a gamble that triggered an immediate response

from the United States.

It is not the United States against Iraq.

It is Iraq against the world.

A response which initiated the most massive mobilization

and troop buildup since the Vietnam War,

with the support of the American people,

a combination of new military leadership

and high-tech weaponry

were brought together to contain

Saddam 's threat to the world order.

I loves you!

I love you so much!

And across America,

a new wave of patriotism swept the nation

as American families saw their sons and daughters

go off in defense of liberty

in order to free the Kuwaiti people

and prevent further Iraqi aggression against Saudi Arabia.

And the playing fields of America

would become empty with the departure

of America's sons and daughters.

While Americans debated about

the tactics of confronting Iraq's aggression,

at no time did they deny support

for their sons and daughters in uniform.

In August 1990,

America was preparing to confront the aggressor's might

in Operation: Desert Shield.

George Bush would draw a line in the sand

against further Iraqi aggression.

American soldiers would learn from their leaders

what America expected of them.

Everybody's recognizing

that they probably won't be a war in Europe,

something we worried about for 40 years.

Everybody's saying it's going to be a world of peace;

things are going to be different.

Couldn't be, that in this kind of new world,

we still have this kind of an aggressor.

And then, over the last few days of July

and then into early August, the first day of August,

it became clear that this buildup

that was taking place just north of the Kuwaiti border

was much too large a buildup simply to be

a threat or something to scare Kuwait.

But Mr. Hussein was giving assurances

to all of his friends and neighbors

that, "no, I'm not going to attack,"

and the next day, he did attack.

In a few short hours,

he subjugated a free and independent country

by the force of arms.

What you're doing is very important,

because it sends a message that this is a new era.

It is a new world.

The United States and Soviet Union are cooperating.

The U.N. is working again,

but there are still bad people in the world.

Mr. Hussein, Saddam Hussein, is a bad person,

and he's got to understand

that kind of aggression can't be tolerated.

One of the great joys I had

and it was with a deep sense of pride

that when the president called us up to Camp David

and I went up with your Commander-In-Chief,

General Schwarzkopf,

and we laid out for him what we could do

and what our options were

and what the Air Force could do and what the Army could do

what the Navy could do and what the Marine Corps could do,

what the Coast Guard could do...

the great source of pride to me was to know

that I wasn't just blowing hot air.

I wasn't just making it up.

I knew what the Armed Forces could do

because I know the kind of troops you guys are.

I know the kind of capability you have in your weapons.

I know the kind of capability that exists

and the kind of leadership that you have.

I know what you are like

because I've seen you at the national training center

and I visited the 24th

when I was force com commander last year,

so I knew what the Armed Forces of the United States could do.

I knew that if the president called on us,

we could do just what he asks us to do and do it in short order.

And here, in a matter of 5 weeks and 2 days,

we have assembled well over 100,000 soldiers.

Well, well over 100,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines,

airmen and Coast Guardsmen and have put a force in place here

in the kingdom and in the other nations around the kingdom

that will make it clear to Saddam Hussein

that he ain't going no further.

The president's put down the marker

that working with our other friends,

The United Nations, Soviet Union,

around the world, the aggression's going to be stopped

and we won't be satisfied

until Mr. Hussein

takes his army out of Kuwait

and lets the Kuwaiti people have their country back.

So you guys are an important part of all that.

You're what makes it possible

for the United States to play its role in the world.

Um, I sound like

I'm giving a speech back here in Washington

rather than out here in the Saudi desert,

but this is the kind of speech I give back in Washington

to let the Congress know

and to let the American people

know the quality,

quality of the Armed Forces we have today.

And it's been another source of pride to see

how the American people have responded to this

over the last 5 or 6 weeks.

Folks just said "Well,

maybe they won't be supportive after a few weeks."

Wrong.

Every passing day, the support increases.

"Maybe Congress will start to be uneasy."

Wrong.

The secretary and I briefed Congress 2 days ago

and every single member of the committee

we were preparing before, the Senate Armed Services Committee,

supported what we're doing and supported you guys.

Others have said, "Well, it'll be too hot.

It'll be too gritty.

It'll be too dusty out there.

Won't they get hot and tired?"

Soldiers have always gotten hot and tired!

But you don't know the kind of soldiers we got!

You don't know the kind of hoo-ah guys we got,

who can take it and keep going.

So don't worry about my boys out there; they'll take it.

- Hoo-ah! - That's right.

Yeah! Hoo-ah!

With that type of leadership and guidance,

the troops, the hardware and technology

of the new American military was brought to the fore.