George W. Bush, insistent on completing the U.S. mission in Iraq, has repeatedly declared—and continues to do so—that America will not leave Iraq. His slogan is simple: "No withdrawal."

This rhetoric mirrors what we heard in Iraq months before the first Gulf War in 1991. Saddam Hussein appeared on television regularly, speaking to Iraqi journalists.

The word "withdrawal" was an unthinkable taboo at the time. Death was considered the rightful punishment for anyone who dared utter it.

One journalist, attempting to emphasize the certainty of Saddam's stance, claimed that the Americans had the technology to fabricate Saddam's voice, and could even create an order for him to withdraw. Saddam was amused by this notion but entertained a more serious possibility: "They may do more than that," he said. "They may fabricate a film showing me ordering you to withdraw." He then made his final assertion: "Even if they do, don’t believe it."

Saddam refused to listen to those advising him to pull out of Kuwait, and all of those advisors, it should be noted, were non-Iraqi.

We don’t need to revisit the details of the war—let's fast-forward to the end.

After weeks of bombing and the worsening condition of the Iraqi military, Saddam made a desperate attempt to maneuver. But the Americans had made their intentions clear. Finally, we heard Saddam on a crackling, low-volume radio station, reluctantly saying the word: "They wanted this word from us, so we are now saying it, we will withdraw."

However, on the ground, it wasn’t a withdrawal; it was a humiliating defeat. Iraqi soldiers had fled Kuwait long before that word was ever spoken.

Now, Bush insists on "no withdrawal," just as Saddam did. The situation is even worse than Saddam's dictatorship: at least in Iraq, no one dared to ask, "Why are we staying here?" But in America, there are many voices crying out for a departure from Iraq.

Yet, I have a feeling that the U.S. will leave Iraq eventually, and in a manner similar to 1991.

The same leaders, the same situation, perhaps even the same fate. The world is now full of Saddams.