Bush\'s 2003 State of the Union Address on Iraq

Bush's State Of The Union Address

Critically analyzing U.S. President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address in 2003, it is evident that the rhetoric of fear dominates his speech. Using the rhetoric fear is the speaker's way of extending to the public that the issue being discussed at hand is not only of great importance to the Bush Administration, but to the whole nation of United States as well. Evidence of the use of this kind of rhetoric is initially established in the first part of the speech. The speaker enumerates a list of the potential dangers that the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein poses for the security of the country and the whole world. Bush mentions statistics to give validity to his claims, mentioning from time to time the active participation and cooperation of the United Nations (UN) with the Bush administration in order to assess and gauge the security threat that Hussein presents to the country. Examples of instances wherein the rhetoric of fear is evident is in the speaker's use of terms used in describing chemical and biological forms of warfare, such as "25,000 liters of anthrax," "38,000 liters of botulinum toxin," "500 tons of sarin, mustard, and VX nerve agent," and "30,00 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents." In order to alleviate the state of emotional fear that his speech may entice, Bush also used subtle forms of the rhetoric of fear, informing his audience about the bigger implication that the statistics about biological and chemical warfare may mean to the citizenry -- that is, that these statistics show that Hussein has made every measure possible in order to "intimidate" the security of its enemy nation, the United States. The speech ends with a resolution to continue with the war the country has waged against the Iraqi president, and this time, Bush mentions the large participation and role of the UN Security Council in the administration's pursuit to maintain the country and world's security from further terrorist attacks.