Bush spoke slowly, somberly, unsmilingly, and stumbled over several words. He said “all reasonable efforts” to resolve the Persian Gulf by diplomacy had failed, that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein “met every overture of peace with contempt.”

Forces from 28 nations, including the Arab League were “standing shoulder to shoulder” and would drive Iraqi troops out of Kuwait and destroy Iraq’s nuclear potential and chemical warfare facilities, Bush said.

One hundred and fifty Saudi aircraft were in the first wave, according to embassy spokesman Fred Dutton, who called the attack “saturation bombings” of Iraq. A Pentagon official said “a wave of Cruise missiles” were fired from U.S. Navy ships at preprogrammed targets in Iraq.

Bush said he had been assured by Army Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, the American military commander in Saudi Arabia, that the air operations were succeeding. Bush said no ground forces were involved in the assault against Iraqi positions in Kuwait and Iraq.

“Why act now? The world could wait no longer” for Saddam to withdraw, Bush said. He said it had become clear that economic sanctions alone would never compel a withdrawal.

His brief speech included a sharp denunciation of the Iraqi leader. “While the world prayed for peace, Saddam prepared for war,” the president said.