July 2003
Tough Talk
"There are some who feel like the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, bring them on."
—President Bush, at a July 3 White House press conference
In response to a journalist's question about getting France, Germany and Russia to help deal with the rising number of deadly attacks on U.S. forces, President Bush says other countries are welcome to lend their support, but that the U.S. troops are capable of securing the situation. To critics who think the U.S. will leave Iraq prematurely if the attacks continue, Bush claims "they don't understand what they're talking about." Three weeks later, Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay are killed in a battle with U.S. forces in Mosul. To help convince skeptical Iraqis that the despised brothers are really dead, the U.S. allows photographs and videotapes of their bodies to be released.