...destruction." For the first but hardly the last time, he unveiled an eerie image that Rice had formulated: "Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for...gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." In the Cincinnati address — "the speech that nobody listened to," he later remarked, other...

...the 1 1th. . . . Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for...smoking gun, that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." The mushroom cloud image had first appeared publicly when an anonymous administration aide...

...speech and declared: "Rnowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for...gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." Other senior administration officials echoed that striking phrase in the following months....

...terrorist group or individual terrorists." Given this possibility and the nuclear threat, he argued, "We cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking...gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."36 Having committed to this line of argument, the administration felt compelled at times to...

...States had to finish off the Iraqi dictator. "Facing clear evidence of peril," he told the audience, "we cannot wait for the final proof— the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud."84 There was no specific reference to obtaining uranium from Africa. The CIA had won this round,...

...Saddam Hussein has dangerous weapons today — and we do — does it make any sense for the world to ... wait for the final proof, the smoking gun that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud?" In an action reminiscent of the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Congress on October 1 1 , 2002,...