(2002-09-25) — U.S. President George Bush withdrew his congressional resolution on the use of force against Iraq today after hearing that Belgium believes an attack is not justifiable.
“We were hoping this wouldn’t happen,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, who then paraphrased the late songwriter Jim Croce. “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape, you don’t spit in the wind, you don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Belgium.”
The White House will now wait for further instructions from Belgium, Fleischer said.