The courage and success of the R.A.F. pilots—­of the Kuwaiti, Saudi, French, Canadians, Italians, the pilots of Qatar and Bahrain—­all are proof that for the first time since World War II, the international community is united.  The leadership of the United Nations, once only a hoped-for ideal, is now confirming its founders’ vision.

I am heartened that we are not being asked to bear alone the financial burden of this struggle.  Last year, our friends and allies provided the bulk of the economic costs of Desert Shield, and having now received commitments of over $40 billion for the first three months of 1991, I am confident they will do no less as we move through Desert Storm.

But the world has to wonder what the dictator of Iraq is thinking.  If he thinks that by targeting innocent civilians in Israel and Saudi Arabia, that he will gain an advantage—­he is dead wrong.  If he thinks that he will advance his cause through tragic and despicable environmental terrorism—­he is dead wrong.  And if he thinks that by abusing coalition P.O.W.s, he will benefit—­he is dead wrong.

We will succeed in the Gulf.  And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression.

The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order—­where brutality will go unrewarded, and aggression will meet collective resistance.

Yes, the United States bears a major share of leadership in this effort.  Among the nations of the world, only the United States of America has had both the moral standing, and the means to back it up.  We are the only nation on this earth that could assemble the forces of peace.

This is the burden of leadership—­and the strength that has made America the beacon of freedom in a searching world.

This nation has never found glory in war.  Our people have never wanted to abandon the blessings of home and work, for distant lands and deadly conflict.  If we fight in anger, it is only because we have to fight at all.  And all of us yearn for a world where we will never have to fight again.

Each of us will measure, within ourselves, the value of this great struggle.  Any cost in lives is beyond our power to measure.  But the cost of closing our eyes to aggression is beyond mankind’s power to imagine.

This we do know:  Our cause is just.  Our cause is moral.  Our cause is right.

Let future generations understand the burden and the blessings of freedom.  Let them say, we stood where duty required us to stand.

Let them know that together, we affirmed America, and the world, as a community of conscience.

The winds of change are with us now.  The forces of freedom are united.  We move toward the next century, more confident than ever, that we have the will at home and abroad, to do what must be done—­the hard work of freedom.