Deterrence Page #5

about what I'm doing about it.

You're the only one who can do that.

Let's do this.

Wait, wait, wait.

Hold it, hold it.

We need a different chair.

This chair is not any good.

It's the only chair we got.

This is ridiculous, this chair.

There are at least three

armored divisions in Kuwait.

Okay, now, listen.

In the red?

Bad color. It's a distraction.

If you could just...

Everybody, actually, just move to that side.

Iraq still uses Soviet migs

in its air force.

I think you should wear a blazer. Okay.

All right, could you get a blazer?

At least one more Iraqi division

has entered the fray...

Forty-five seconds before we get live!

Dex, Dex.

No time. All right, come back.

We need to go over your speech.

One thing is clear, and that is

that this is a large army.

Emerson the diplomat,

Emerson the peacekeeper,

Emerson the coolheaded.

I hear you, marsh.

It's gonna be good.

It's going to be fine.

Thank you.

We've just received word... - back against

the wall. Please be quiet during this.

The president will be addressing the nation.

There is no time delay.

When Gerald goes to you,

start speaking naturally.

Right here.

I'll be watching that.

From a diner in aztec, Colorado.

Nice and still. Watch for my cue.

Ready? Very good.

Ladies and gentlemen, the

President of the United States.

Here we go.

My fellow Americans,

as the world now knows, the

leader of Iraq, udei Hussein,

in complete defiance of u.N.

Resolutions 687, 773 and 883,

has invaded the emirate of Kuwait

as his father did in 1990.

In the process, he has killed

several hundred American troops...

Serving as a peacekeeping force.

Our intelligence also indicates that

at least eight Iraqi divisions...

Are holding Kuwait

and progressing to Saudi Arabia.

This is not the act

of a warrior nor a leader...

But that of a barbarian.

We must now assume that

udei Hussein's objective...

Is one of a manifest destiny.

At present, nearly 80% of our troops...

Are on the sea of Japan

or the 38th parallel.

To put it as bluntly as possible,

the United States of America

does not have the capability...

Of dealing with the Iraqi invasion

force with conventional expedition.

There are defining moments

in the history of every nation,

moments which delineate

our strengths and our character.

Often these moments require that a harder

right be made over an easier wrong.

It is with that in mind that I now wish

to speak directly to the Iraqi people.

Unless your leader, udei Hussein,

immediately withdraws

from his position in Kuwait,

leaving all weapons behind where they are,

and turns himself in for arrest...

At the American embassy in Kuwait,

I will authorize the dropping...

Of a multi-megaton nuclear

device on the city of Baghdad.

I'm now giving you, the citizens of Baghdad,

one hour and twenty minutes

to leave the city,

save your lives and those of your children.

It is my deepest and most

heartfelt wish and prayer...

That udei Hussein

accept his responsibility...

As the sovereign of a nation and a responsible

member of the international community.

That is it for now.

God save us all.

Thank you.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen,

if you are just joining us,

the President of the United States

has just given what may be...

- The most dramatic speech ever given by a sitting president.

- Jesus.

What? What?

Well, I mean, that wasn't

exactly peacemaking, was it?

Subjective, isn't it?

All right, thank you, everybody.

Thank you very much.

He would order the dropping of a

nuclear bomb on Baghdad unless:

One, udei Hussein withdraws and

retreats from Kuwait; Two...

According to weather intel,

navigating an aircraft to

your position is impossible.

We could risk it and try sending a

helicopter to you. No, no, no, no.

We could risk sending a helicopter here,

but we cannot risk putting the

president on a helicopter out of here.

Agreed. NORAD has dispatched a winter a.P.C.

To your position.

It should be there in about an hour.

All right.

What will my ability be to

communicate once inside the a.P.C.?

There are shortwaves on all the a.P.C.S,

however the lines are nonsecure.

If they're nonsecure, forget it.

Bottom line, we work from here.

Mr. president, admiral Miller

here, central command.

With your permission, I'd like

to speak to you off speaker.

Admiral, Hussein's weapons

go hot in an hour and a half.

I will not hold your comments against you.

Okay. Sir, I must object

to your threat on ibs.

Hussein's weapons can be

dealt with conventionally.

Our high-tech weapons can do all

that the nukes can do... no, no, no.

We've been down that road before.

That's a good point, sir.

That's not a good point. We've been

down that road before. Listen, people!

Let's be clear. If we attack, we

attack, and it's gonna be major.

I'm not gonna send over

a couple of tomahawks,

and get on the phone and say,

"how do you like them apples?"

It's never worked before. Hussein's

like his old man. He's a survivor.

After every calamity, he emerges dusting

off his uniform asking, "is that it?"

Even a limited air attack

is an extensive air attack.

It's not 20 or 50 sorties but hundreds.

Which the u.S.S. Powell

can't accommodate.

Right. Then we'd have to move into

their planes, airfields, Sam sites.

Granted, but even that doesn't leave

us with just the nuclear option.

Okay, okay. Before we carry out the

"should we or shouldn't we" debate,

let's ensure what we in fact can do.

General Riley, what do we have?

Well, Mr. president,

at stratcom under start 2,

our missiles are now set on a

trajectory that ends in the Atlantic.

What brilliant commander-in-chief

came up with that one?

How long to reset the target?

Our record's 20 minutes.

It used to be shorter, but we

de-alerted five years ago.

What do we have in our arsenal?

Several triple warhead

Excalibur 3 nuclear missiles.

- We could hit our designated targets in two hours.

- - Two hours?

No, that's unacceptable. We have to hit

Iraq before their weapons can go hot.

How the United States

would launch a nuclear attack,

particularly when it must be initiated and

completed in less than an hour and a half...

Is very limiting.

We do have file footage here.

The u.S.S. Powell is our one and

only warship in the Gulf region.

The Powell is one of only two surface

ships to carry nuclear weapons...

Since president bush's

nuclear ban instituted in 1992.

Okay, what weapons do we have on thepowell?

The fastest deployment would be by tomahawk.

Detonation in 40 minutes.

Okay, but if we do that,

we have to give Hussein

enough time to comply.

We could launch tomahawks

45 minutes from now.

He would have that time plus an

additional 40 to comply, correct?

Not really. Once that missile's

on its way, it's on its way.

There must be some way to divert it, right?

We can do two things...

If Hussein complies while

the missile is in flight.

Firstly, we can detonate. Then we'd have

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