President George W. Bush’s Address to the Nation on Military Operations in Iraq, televised on March 19, 2003, was intended to explain to the American people why the United States was launching military strikes against Iraq. The Iraq War, a conflict that lasted almost nine years, was precipitated by reports of Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. United Nations weapons inspectors had found no evidence of such weapons but were unable to fully assess Iraq’s arsenal. In addition, U.S. officials believed that the country’s leader, Saddam Hussein, was supporting the activities of al-Qaeda, the global militant Islamic organization that had launched the attacks against the United States of September 11, 2001, and was otherwise violating various UN Security Council resolutions. In his address, Bush cites the arguments for using force to end Saddam Hussein’s tyrannical and dangerous regime and bring freedom to the Iraqi people.