President George W. Bush, while discussing the possibility of force against hostile nation: We want to resolve all issues peacefully, whether it be Iraq, Iran or North Korea, for that matter. And as you know, I’m going to the Korean Peninsula to talk about that very subject. On the one side of a parallel we’ve got people starving to death, because a nation chooses to build weapons of mass destruction. And on the other side there’s freedom. And it’s important for those of us who love freedom to work with nations to convince them to choose freedom. But I’ve also said that they should make no mistake about it, that we will defend our interests, and I will defend the American people. And that’s what we talked about.
– Transcript, “President Bush, Prime Minister Koizumi Hold Press Conference,” George W. Bush – White House Archives online, Accessed on 7/6/2016