World War 3 - Before the Start

Listed below are the events leading up to World War 3.

September 11, 1990 -- President Bush [Senior] gives a speech to a joint session of the U.S. Congress entitled, "Toward A New World Order".

July 12, 2001 -- A full two months before the September 11 attack, a Russian expert, Tatyana Koryagina, "a senior research fellow in the Institute of Macroeconomic Researches subordinated to Russian Ministry of Economic Development", warned of an attack in America: "Besides bombs and missiles, there are other kinds of weaponry, much more destructive ones. . . . The U.S. is engaged in a mortal economic game … There is a shadow economy, shadow politics and also a shadow history, known to conspirologists. There are (unseen) forces acting in the world, unstoppable for (most powerful) countries and even continents. There are international, 'super-state' and 'super-government' groups. In accordance with tradition, the mystical and religious components play extremely important roles in human history. One must take into account the shadow economy, shadow politics and the religious component, while predicting the development of the present financial situation. Shadow financial activities of $300 trillion are hanging over the planet. At any moment, they could fall on any stock exchange and cause panic and crash... The U.S. has been chosen as the object of financial attack because the financial center of the planet is located there. The effect will be maximal. The strike waves of economic crisis will spread over the planet instantly, and will remind us of the blast of a huge nuclear bomb."


September 11, 2001 -- Eleven years to the day after President Bush's speech, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are attacked.

September 13, 2001 -- Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz says the retaliation would be continued until the roots of terrorism are destroyed. 'These people try to hide. They won't be able to hide forever ... They think their harbors are safe, but they won't be safe forever ... it's not simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism.'

October 11, 2001 -- Tom Brokaw announces the world now has formed into the New World Order.

October 26, 2001 -- President Bush signs legislation into law that gives Federal Government dictatorial powers and severely -- if not fatally -- erodes individual liberties and rights.

November 2001 -- January 2002 - Bush foreign policy and security advisers, including Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleeza Rice, say Saddam poses the greatest danger to the U.S. and should be the next target in the war on terrorism. Unnamed diplomatic and Pentagon sources say through press reports that the CIA and Defense Department are making plans for an Iraqi military campaign. The president remarks that Saddam will "find out" the consequences of refusing to allow United Nations weapons inspectors to return to Iraq. [Sources: Washington Times, USA Today, New York Times and the Observer (U.K.)]

Dec. 5, 2001 -- Members of Congress John McCain, Richard Shelby, Jesse Helms, Henry Hyde, Harold Ford Jr., Joseph Lieberman, Trent Lott, Benjamin Gilman, and Sam Brownback send President Bush a letter urging military action against Iraq.

January 29, 2002 -- Bush, in his State of the Union Address, lists Iraq, Iran and North Korea as constituting an 'axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger'.

February 2002 -- Vice President Dick Cheney prepares to visit the Middle Eastern nations of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Kuwait, all of which border Iraq. On Cheney's trip Bush remarks, "There's nothing like looking somebody in the eye and letting them know that when we say we're going to fight terror, we mean it." Also in February on a trip to Japan, Bush reportedly tells the Japanese prime minister "We'll attack Iraq. We'll do it definitely."[Sources: The Guardian (U.K.), Kyodo News]

March 11-13, 2002 -- As Cheney travels on his Middle East trip, the leaders of Turkey and Jordan, two scheduled stops on the vice president's travel agenda, warn a U.S. attack on Iraq could destabilize the region. Cheney first arrives in London, where British Prime Minister Tony Blair pledges support for expanding America's war against terrorism to other nations. Jordan's King Abdullah meets with Cheney and states publicly that he does not support a U.S. strike against Iraq. [Source: Washington Post]

March 14, 2002 -- President Bush gives his first press conference since 9-11 and says, "all options are on the table," including nuclear weapons, to confront states that threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein "is a problem, and we're going to deal with him." [Source: Washington Post]

May 24, 2002 -- The six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who are the highest ranking members of the U.S. armed forces, publicly criticize the president's desire for a swift strike against Iraq. The military commanders express fears that an early invasion would result in many American casualties, and that a cornered Saddam Hussein would not hesitate to use biological or chemical weapons. [Source: London Telegraph]

July 9, 2002 -- Bush tells reporters, "It is the stated policy of this government to have a regime change [in Iraq], and we'll use all the tools at our disposal to do so." [Source: Associated Press]

July - September 2002 -- On numerous occasions, former U.N. Iraqi weapons inspector Scott Ritter criticizes the Bush Administration for its Iraq policy. Ritter maintains that Saddam's military capability is negligible and Bush wants to invade Iraq for political purposes. [Sources: CNN, Washington Post, New York Times]

Aug. 18, 2002 -- Richard Perle is quoted in a Washington Post story by political reporter Dana Milbank headlined, "White House Push for Iraqi Strike Is on Hold." The subhead reads, "Waiting to Make Case for Action Allows Invasion Opponents to Dominate Debate." Perle says, "Timing is everything when you do this. If you launched [a public campaign] too far in advance and nothing followed, that would raise questions and fuel a debate that would not be helpful to the administration...If you join the debate now, but don't act for months, you pay a worse price."

Sept. 8, 2002 -- The United Kingdom's Independent reports "more than 100 U.S. and British aircraft attacked Iraqi air installations last week in the biggest raid for more than three years." [Source: The Independent (U.K.)]

September 12, 2002 -- Bush tells UN that Iraq is a "grave and gathering danger" and that the US "will not allow any terrorist or tyrant to threaten civilisation with weapons of mass murder".

Sept. 13, 2002 -- Reps. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, declare Saddam's efforts to amass weapons of mass destruction pose no immediate threat to the U.S., and Bush' real motive for a military strike is to make a grab for Iraqi oil. "Oil is a factor. How much [of a factor] is anybody's guess, but to discount it as a factor is, I think, misleading," said Kucinich. "It's not a conspiracy theory to bring it in because, after all, it is the second largest oil supply in the world." [Source: CNN]

Sept. 16, 2002 -- Nelson Mandela increases his verbal offensive against the Bush Administration hawks. "What right has Bush to say that Iraq's offer is not genuine?" asked Mandela. "We must condemn that very strongly. No country, however strong, is entitled to comment adversely in the way the U.S. has done. They think they're the only power in the world. They're not and they're following a dangerous policy. One country wants to bully the world." [Source: BBC]

Sept. 19, 2002 -- President Bush submits a draft of a congressional resolution authorizing him to take military action against Iraq. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., predicts Congress will vote on the resolution before November elections. The draft resolution says, "The president is authorized to use all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force, in order to enforce the United Nations Security Council resolutions [pertaining to Iraq], defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and security in the region." [Source: Washington Post]

Sept. 24, 2002 -- Tony Blair unveils a dossier of evidence on Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction. The dossier, based on British and U.S. intelligence, was criticized for not revealing convincing evidence pointing to the need for Saddam's immediate removal. [Source: Associated Press]

Sept. 27, 2002 -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announces that the Bush Administration cited a non-existent report said to be from 1998 on Iraq's supposed imminent nuclear capability. "There's never been a report like that issued from this agency," said Mark Gwozdecky, an IAEA spokesman. [Source: Washington Times]

Sept. 28, 2002 -- Up to 400,000 protesters march against war in Iraq in central London.

Oct. 1, 2002 (Time approximate 12:00 EDT) - In Vienna, Hans Blix, the head U.N. weapons inspector, announces a tentative agreement with Iraq to allow inspectors to return beginning in two weeks. Search protocols of Hussein's Presidential palaces remain unresolved. Source: Washington Post]

Oct. 1, 2002 (Time approximate 16:30 EDT) -- Within hours of the Blix announcement President Bush reacts negatively to the agreement reached between Iraq and weapons inspectors. "We're just not going to accept something that is weak," he said. Bush urges the U.N. to "put some calcium in the backbone" of an alternative resolution for dealing with Iraq. On an alternative congressional resolution drafted by Senators Biden and Lugar of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bush says, "I don't want a resolution that ties my hands...What I won't accept is something that allows Saddam Hussein to continue to lie, deceive the world," Bush said. "I'm just not going to accept something that is weak. It's not worth it - the United Nations must show its backbone and we'll work with members of the Security Council to put a little calcium there, put some calcium in the backbone, so this organization is more likely to keep the peace as we go down the road." [Sources: Washington Post, Associated Press]

Next: Act I: Baghdad Invaded