Base your answer to question 44 on the statement

below and on your knowledge of social studies.

My fellow citizens, events in Iraq have now

reached the final days of decision. For more than

a decade, the United States and other nations

have pursued patient and honorable efforts to

disarm the Iraqi regime without war. That regime

pledged to reveal and destroy all its weapons of

mass destruction as a condition for ending the

Persian Gulf war in 1991.…

— President George W. Bush, March 17, 2003

Which action did President George W. Bush take

following this statement?

(1) withdrawing from the Persian Gulf War

(2) ordering American forces to invade Iraq

(3) removing economic sanctions on Iraq

(4) threatening Iraq with nuclear weapons