WASHINGTON, Nov 11: President George W. Bush vowed on Monday to use the full force and might of the US military against Iraq and declared that the time to act is now.

“The time to confront this threat is before it arrives, not the day after,” said the American president while addressing the veterans of the US armed forces at the White House.

He delivered a hard-hitting message to Baghdad, declaring: “I have no greater responsibility than protecting the American people. Should military action become necessary for our own security, I will commit the full force and might of the United States military, and we will prevail.”

Bush reminded his audience that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein pledged to disarm more than a decade ago but instead indulged in “systematic deception, unmet obligations, unpunished violations.”

“Those games are now over. Saddam Hussein will fully disarm and prove that he has done so, or America will lead a coalition to disarm him,” warned the American president.

Addressing Saddam Hussein as “the dictator in Iraq,” Bush said the Iraqi leader has had a long history of aggression and a deep hatred of America. “The United States government, and once again the United Nations Security Council, share a determination: the Iraqi regime must not produce or possess chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.”