As the Bombs Fell and Missiles Flew, Hopes for a New World Order Gave Way to Familiar Disorder

Force. Derived from the Latin fortis, meaning "strong," it was the watchword of an extraordinary week.

I am stronger than you; therefore you will do what I say. Obey, or I will use force. That was what George Bush said to Saddam Hussein. For more than five months he had been saying it with warnings, then an ultimatum. Wednesday evening he switched to the vocabulary of bombs.

$ But Saddam talked back. I am stronger than you, he said to the man he calls the Satan in the White House. You may have more means of killing, but I have many...