On March 17, 2003, President George W. Bush interrupted the primetime programming lineups of all major television networks and a handful of ... all » Cable outlets, to deliver an ultimatum to the ruler of Iraq. <br /><br />"All the decades of deceit and cruelty have now reached an end," he stated, with an ominous diminution of his usually well-rehearsed Texas twang. "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." Within 72 hours, major combat operations in a campaign whose objective -- the liberation of an otherwise sovereign nation from the once-useful tyranny of its President -- has met with no resistance from anyone in a position to stop it, commenced. <br /><br />Today it endures . . . as do us all. <br /><br />I now mark the fifth anniversary of Pres. Bush's determined resolve to end decades of deceit and cruelty, through the vehicle of a piece entitled 'Hands Across Iraq.'
