Prior to the proposed 2003 invasion of Iraq, Stephen Hayes spoke to BBC News, arguing for American intervention: "I think liberating Iraq will send a strong message to Iran, North Korea, other hostile regimes not only because it will show that we will - the United States will not tolerate bullies, especially bullies with weapons of mass destruction, but it will also I think hopefully show what a free liberated people, what a free liberated Iraqi people can do for themselves and it will be - again it will be a fabulous model, not only for the Middle East but for places throughout the world that haven't had these kinds of freedoms in the past or haven't had them realised."