Ca y est, j'ai retrouvé. C'est même le président Bush qui l'a dit dans son allocution du 8 août 1990. Le terme exact est "fourth largest military in the world" :
"Bush Announces U.S. Troop Deployment
Following is President Bush's address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House on Aug. 8, 1990, on his decision to send U.S. air and ground forces to Saudi Arabia to help it defend against possible aggressive actions by Iraq:
In the life of a nation, we're called upon to define who we are and what we believe. Sometimes, these choices are not easy. But today, as president, I ask for your support in a decision I've made to stand up for what's right and condemn what's wrong, all in the cause of peace.
At my direction, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, as well as key units of the United States Air Force, are arriving today to take up defensive positions in Saudi Arabia. I took this action to assist the Saudi Arabian government in the defense of its homeland. No one commits American armed forces to a dangerous mission lightly, but after perhaps unparalleled international consultation and exhausting every alternative, it became necessary to take this action.
Let me tell you why. Less than a week ago in the early morning hours of Aug. 2, Iraqi armed forces, without provocation or warning, invaded a peaceful Kuwait. Facing negligible resistance from its much smaller neighbor, Iraq's tanks stormed in blitzkrieg fashion through Kuwait in a few short hours. With more than 100,000 troops, along with tanks, artillery and surface-to-surface missiles, Iraq now occupies Kuwait.
This aggression came just hours after [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein specifically assured numerous countries in the area that there would be no invasion. There is no justification whatsoever for this outrageous and brutal act of aggression.
A puppet regime, imposed from the outside, is unacceptable. The acquisition of territory by force is unacceptable.
No one, friend or foe, should doubt our desire for peace, and no one should underestimate our determination to confront aggression.
Four simple principles guide our policy.
First, we seek the immediate, unconditional and complete withdrawal of all Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Second, Kuwait's legitimate government must be restored to replace the puppet regime.
And third, my administration, as has been the case with every president from President [Franklin D.] Roosevelt to President [Ronald] Reagan, is committed to the security and stability of the Persian Gulf.
And fourth, I am determined to protect the lives of American citizens abroad.
Immediately after the Iraqi invasion, I ordered an embargo of all trade with Iraq, and together with many other nations, announced sanctions that both froze all Iraqi assets in this country and protected Kuwait's assets.
The stakes are high. Iraq is already a rich and powerful country that possesses the world's second-largest reserves of oil and over a million men under arms.
It's the fourth-largest military in the world".
Source :
https://library.cqpress.com/cqalmanac/d ... 90-1118567Ce devrait être facile à retrouver, du coup (a priori, on peut le voir ici :
https://www.jstor.org/stable/27552567?s ... b_contents ; ou là :
https://books.google.fr/books?id=H5RFAQ ... aq&f=false).
Et il n'est donc pas étonnant que Cheney et le Pentagone ait repris une telle assertion, qui venait d'ailleurs sans doute de leurs services (la DIA étant, surtout à l'époque, l'organe principal en charge de l'évaluation des forces militaires dans le monde).
On notera que dans "fourth largest military", seule la taille de l'armée est prise en compte, en rien sa qualité ou sa puissance.
CEN EMB