"I Am At Peace With Myself"
By early 2003, President Bush didn't care whether or not the United Nations would pass the infamous 'second resolution', which was supposed to show the scale of the international outrage toward the Hussein regime, condemning him for supposedly refusing to expose his weapons programs to inspectors.
Bush had already decided he was going to war on Iraq, with or without a second UN resolution, even as tens of millions of people around the world marched in opposition to what would clearly be a disastrous and deadly act of aggression by the United States.
Raw Story details how, on February 22, 2003, President Bush told then Spanish prime minister, Jose Maria Aznar :
"Saddam Husein will not change and will continue playing; the moment has arrived for undoing of him."
Bush said he would prefer to have a second UN resolution, but in his conversation, he makes clear that he would not hesitate to act without one, El Pais reported.
"We have to get rid of Saddam. There are two weeks left. In two weeks we will be ready militarily. We will be in Baghdad at the end of March," Bush said less than a month before bombs began falling on Baghdad.
Bush also threatened nations with retaliation if they did not vote for a UN resolution backing the Iraq war, according to a the transcript. Nations like Mexico, Angola, Chile and Cameroon must know that the security of the United States is at stake, the president tells Aznar.
...Bush threatened to pull financial aid from Angola and warned that a free-trade agreement with Chile might be delayed in the Senate if they did not back another UN resolution.
Prior to the US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington unsuccessfully lobbied the 15 members of the UN Security Council for a second resolution paving the way for military action against Iraq if Saddam Hussein failed to comply with demands to disarm.
Aznar tells Bush in the transcript that he needed Washington's help to get Spanish public opinion behind the invasion. He adds that he is worried by Bush's optimism.
"I am optimistic because I believe I am right. I am at peace with myself," Bush responded.
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