[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 130 (Monday, October 7, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10001-S10004]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IRAQ
Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we face no more serious decision in our
democracy than whether or not to go to war. The American people deserve
to fully understand all of the implications of such a decision.
The question of whether our Nation should attack Iraq is playing out
in the context of a more fundamental debate that is only just
beginning--an all-important debate about how, when and where in the
years ahead our country will use its unsurpassed military might.
On September 20, the administration unveiled its new National
Security Strategy. This document addresses the new realities of our
age, particularly the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and
terrorist networks armed with the agendas of fanatics. The Strategy
claims that these new threats are so novel and so dangerous that we
should ``not hesitate to act
[[Page S10002]]
alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting
pre-emptively.''
In the discussion over the past few months about Iraq, the
administration, often uses the terms ``pre-emptive'' and ``preventive''
interchangeably. In the realm of international relations, these two
terms have long had very different meanings.
Traditionally, ``pre-emptive'' action refers to times when states
react to an imminent threat of attack. For example, when Egyptian and
Syrian forces mobilized on Israel's borders in 1967, the threat was
obvious and immediate, and Israel felt justified in pre-emptively
attacking those forces. The global community is generally tolerant of
such actions, since no nation should have to suffer a certain first
strike before it has the legitimacy to respond.
By contrast, ``preventive'' military action refers to strikes that
target a country before it has developed a capability that could
someday become threatening. Preventive attacks have generally been
condemned. For example, the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was
regarded as a preventive strike by Japan, because the Japanese were
seeking to block a planned military buildup by the United States in the
Pacific.
The coldly premeditated nature of preventive attacks and preventive
wars makes them anathema to well-established international principles
against aggression. Pearl Harbor has been rightfully recorded in
history as an act of dishonorable treachery.
Historically, the United States has condemned the idea of preventive
war, because it violates basic international rules against aggression.
But at times in our history, preventive war has been seriously
advocated as a policy option.
In the early days of the cold war, some U.S. military and civilian
experts advocated a preventive war against the Soviet Union. They
proposed a devastating first strike to prevent the Soviet Union from
developing a threatening nuclear capability. At the time, they said the
uniquely destructive power of nuclear weapons required us to rethink
traditional international rules.
The first round of that debate ended in 1950, when President Truman
ruled out a preventive strike, stating that such actions were not
consistent with our American tradition. He said, ``You don't `prevent'
anything by war . . . except peace.'' Instead of a surprise first
strike, the nation dedicated itself to the strategy of deterrence and
containment, which successfully kept the peace during the long and
frequently difficult years of the Cold War.
Arguments for preventive war resurfaced again when the Eisenhower
administration took power in 1953, but President Eisenhower and
Secretary of State John Foster Dulles soon decided firmly against it.
President Eisenhower emphasized that even if we were to win such a war,
we would face the vast burdens of occupation and reconstruction that
would come with it.
The argument that the United States should take preventive military
action, in the absence of an imminent attack, resurfaced in 1962, when
we learned that the Soviet Union would soon have the ability to launch
missiles from Cuba against our country. Many military officers urged
President Kennedy to approve a preventive attack to destroy this
capability before it became operational. Robert Kennedy, like Harry
Truman, felt that this kind of first strike was not consistent with
American values. He said that a proposed surprise first strike against
Cuba would be a ``Pearl Harbor in reverse.''
For 175 years, [he said] we have not been that kind of country.
That view prevailed. A middle ground was found and peace was
preserved.
Yet another round of debate followed the Cuban Missile Crisis when
American strategists and voices in and out of the administration
advocated preventive war against China to forestall its acquisition of
nuclear weapons. Many arguments heard today about Iraq were made then
about the Chinese communist government: that its leadership was
irrational and that it was therefore undeterrable. And once again,
those arguments were rejected.
As these earlier cases show, American strategic thinkers have long
debated the relative merits of preventive and pre-emptive war. Although
nobody would deny our right to pre-emptively block an imminent attack
on our territory, there is disagreement about our right to preventively
engage in war.
In each of these cases a way was found to deter other nations,
without waging war.
Now, the Bush Administration says we must take pre-emptive action
against Iraq. But what the Administration is really calling for is
preventive war, which flies in the face of international rules of
acceptable behavior.
There is no doubt that Saddam Hussein is a despicable dictator and
that he must be disarmed. But the Administration has not made a
persuasive case that the threat is so imminent that we should risk
going it alone. We should resort to war only as a last resort. If we
work through the United Nations for free, unfettered inspections, we
strengthen our hand with our allies, our hand against Saddam Hussein
and our ability to disarm him.
The Administration's new National Security Strategy states ``As a
matter of common sense and self-defense, America will act against such
emerging threats before they are fully formed.''
The circumstances of today's world require us to rethink this
concept. The world changed on September 11, and all of us have learned
that it can be a drastically more dangerous place. The Bush
administration's new National Security Strategy asserts that global
realities now legitimize preventive war and make it a strategic
necessity.
The document openly contemplates preventive attacks against groups or
states, even absent the threat of imminent attack. It legitimizes this
kind of first strike option, and it elevates it to the status of a core
security doctrine. Disregarding norms of international behavior, the
Bush strategy asserts that the United States should be exempt from the
rules we expect other nations to obey.
I strongly oppose any such extreme doctrine and I'm sure that many
others do as well. Earlier generations of Americans rejected preventive
war on the grounds of both morality and practicality, and our
generation must do so as well. We can deal with Iraq without resorting
to this extreme.
It is impossible to justify any such double standard under
international law. Might does not make right. America cannot write its
own rules for the modern world. To attempt to do so would be
unilateralism run amok. It would antagonize our closest allies, whose
support we need to fight terrorism, prevent global warming, and deal
with many other dangers that affect all nations and require
international cooperation. It would deprive America of the moral
legitimacy necessary to promote our values abroad. And it would give
other nations--from Russia to India to Pakistan--an excuse to violate
fundamental principles of civilized international behavior.
The administration's doctrine is a call for 21st century American
imperialism that no other nation can or should accept. It is the
antithesis of all that America has worked so hard to achieve in
international relations since the end of World War II.
This is not just an academic debate. There are important real world
consequences. A shift in our policy toward preventive war would
reinforce the perception of America as a ``bully' in the Middle East
and would fuel anti-American sentiment throughout the Islamic world and
beyond.
It would also send a signal to governments the world over that the
rules of aggression have changed for them too, which could increase the
risk of conflict between countries such as Russia and Georgia, India
and Pakistan, and China and Taiwan.
Obviously, this debate is only just beginning on the administration's
new strategy for national security. But the debate is solidly grounded
in American values and history.
It will also be a debate among vast numbers of well-meaning Americans
who have honest differences of opinion about the best way to use United
States military might. The debate will be contentious, but the stakes,
in terms of both our national security and our allegiance to our core
beliefs, are too high to ignore.
I look forward to working closely with my colleagues in Congress to
develop an effective, principled policy that will enable us to protect
our national security, and respect the basic
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principles that are essential for the world to be at peace.
I yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Oregon.
(The remarks of Mr. Wyden and Mr. Hatch pertaining to the
introduction of S. 3063 are located in today's Record under
``Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the previous order, the
Senator from Pennsylvania is recognized.
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition, as noted, to
discuss the pending resolution. At the outset, I commend the President
for coming to Congress. Originally the position had been articulated by
the White House that congressional authority was not necessary. The
President, as Commander in Chief, has the authority under the
Constitution to act in cases of emergency. But if there is time for
discussion, deliberation, and debate, then in my view it is a matter
for the Congress.
Senator Harkin and I introduced a resolution on July 18 of this year
calling for the President to come to Congress before using military
force.
When the President made his State of the Union speech and identified
the axis of evil as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, followed by the
testimony of Secretary of State Powell that there was no intention to
go to war against either North Korea or Iran, it left the obvious
inference that war might be in the offing as to Iraq.
I spoke extensively on the subject back on February 13, 2002, raising
a number of issues: What was the extent of Saddam Hussein's control
over weapons of mass destruction? What would it cost by way of
casualties to topple Saddam Hussein? What would be the consequence in
Iraq? Who would govern after Saddam was toppled? What would happen in
the region, the impact on the Arab world, and the impact on Israel? I
believe it is vastly preferable on our resolution to focus on the
question of weapons of mass destruction as opposed to the issue of
regime change. When we talk about regime change, there is a sense in
many other nations that the United States is seeking to exert its will
on another sovereign nation. Much as Saddam Hussein deserves to be
toppled, when we move away from the focus of containing weapons of mass
destruction, it is my view we lose a great deal of our moral authority.
There is no doubt Saddam Hussein has been ruthless in the use of
weapons of mass destruction with the use of chemicals on his own
people, the Kurds, and in the Iran-Iraq war. There is very substantial
evidence Saddam Hussein has storehouses of biological weapons, and
there is significant evidence he is moving as fast as he can toward
nuclear weapons. So when we talk about self-defense, when we talk about
ridding the world of the scourge, that is a very high moral ground.
When we talk about regime change, it raises the concern of many leaders
of many nations as to who is next--maybe they are next.
I suggest it is possible to achieve regime change in a way superior
to articulating or planning an attack with the view to toppling Saddam
Hussein. I believe the way to achieve regime change, consistent with
international principles, is to try Saddam Hussein as a war criminal. I
introduced a resolution on March 2, 1998, which was passed by the U.S.
Senate on March 13, 1998, calling for the creation of a military
tribunal, similar to the war crimes tribunal at The Hague, similar to
the war crimes tribunal in Rwanda, so that Saddam Hussein could be
tried as a war criminal. There is no doubt on the evidence available
that Saddam Hussein has committed war crimes. Without going into all of
the details set forth in the resolution, I ask unanimous consent that
it be printed at the conclusion of my remarks.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
(See exhibit 1.)
Mr. SPECTER. Herein, there is a very ample statement for the basis
for trying Saddam Hussein and trying him successfully as a war
criminal. In doing that, we would be following the precedent of trying
former Yugoslavian President Milosevic as a war criminal. I have made
some seven visits to The Hague and have participated in marshaling U.S.
resources from the Department of Justice, also specifically from the
FBI, also from the CIA during the 104th Congress back in 1995 and 1996,
when I was chairman of the Intelligence Committee; and we now see the
head of state, Slobodan Milosevic, on trial.
We had the experience of the war crimes tribunal in Rwanda, which
achieved an international precedent in convicting former Prime Minister
Jean Kambanda of Rwanda, the first head of state to be convicted. He is
now serving a life sentence.
So it is my suggestion that the objective of regime change can be
accomplished in accordance with existing international standards, on a
multilateral basis, without having other nations in the world saying
the superpower United States is trying to throw its weight around. It
might take a little longer, but as is evidenced from the proceedings in
Rwanda as to the former Prime Minister of Rwanda, and as evidenced from
the proceedings of Milosevic, that is an ordinary successful progress
of the law. The most difficult issue pending on the resolutions as to
the use of force on Iraq, the most difficult issue, in my opinion, is
the question of whether the United Nations authorizes the use of force.
I commend the President for his efforts to organize an international
coalition. President George Herbert Walker Bush did organize an
international coalition in 1991, and prosecuted the war against Iraq
with great success, enlisting the aid of the Arab nations, including
Egypt, Syria, and other countries. That is the preferable way to
proceed, if it can be accomplished.
The obvious difficulty in conditioning the President's authority to
use force on a United Nations resolution is the United States would be
subjecting itself to the veto by either China, or Russia, or even
France, and we prize our sovereignty very highly--justifiably so. The
conundrum, then, is whether we will get that kind of an international
coalition that would have the weight of world public opinion, would
have the weight of the U.N. behind them.
The difficulties of having the United States act alone would be the
precedent that would be set. It could be a reference point for China,
for example, looking at Taiwan, where China has made many bellicose
warlike statements as to its disagreements with Taiwan. If the United
States can act unilaterally, or without United Nations sanction, there
would be a potential argument for a country like China proceeding as to
Taiwan. There would be a potential argument for a nation like India
proceeding as to Pakistan, or vice versa, Pakistan proceeding as to
India, which could be a nuclear incident. Both of those countries have
nuclear power.
This is a question I believe has to be debated on the floor of the
U.S. Senate. I have not made up my mind as to whether it is preferable
to condition the use of force on a United Nations resolution, and I am
cognizant of the difficulties of giving up sovereignty and being
subject to the veto of China, which I don't like at all, or being
subject to the veto of Russia, which I don't like at all, or being
subject to the veto of France, again something I do not like. But I
think we have to recognize when we are authorizing the use of force,
and if the President takes the authorization and is not successful
going to the U.N. to get a coalition, we will be establishing a
precedent that may have ramifications far into the future, at some
point in time when the United States may not be the superpower
significantly in control of the destiny of the world with our great
military power.
I am glad to see the President is moving ahead with an effort to get
inspections in the United Nations, and Secretary of State Powell met
last Friday with the U.N. inspection chief, who agreed there ought to
be broader authority for the U.N. inspection than that which was in
place in 1998 when Iraq ousted the U.N. inspectors. Hans Blix supported
the position the United States has taken. Yesterday, on a Sunday talk
show, the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.N. made a comment to the effect
there was no huge problem on having U.N. inspectors come, even to the
Presidential compounds.
That is probably a typical Iraqi statement: holding out an offer one
day
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and revoking it the next. I do believe it is important that we exhaust
every possible alternative before resorting to the use of our armed
forces, and to have the inspectors go back into Iraq is obviously
desirable. We must have the inspectors, though, go into Iraq in a
context where there are no holds barred.
In August, Senator Shelby and I visited the Sudan. The Sudan is now
interested in becoming friendly with the United States. Our former
colleague, Senator Jack Danforth, has brokered the basic peace treaty
which still has to be implemented in many respects. But as a part of
the new Sudanese approach, the Government of Sudan has allowed U.S.
intelligence personnel to go to Sudanese factories, munitions plants,
and laboratories with no announcement or minimal announcement of just
an hour, break locks, go in, and conduct inspections. That would be a
good model for the inspection of Iraq. If, in fact, the Iraqis will
allow unfettered, unlimited inspections, it is conceivable that would
solve the problem with respect to the issue of weapons of mass
destruction.
Certainly that ought to be pursued to the maximum extent possible.
If, and/or when the Iraqis oust the U.N. inspectors or limit the U.N.
inspectors, raising again the unmistakable inference that Saddam
Hussein has something to hide, then I think there is more reason to
resort to force as a last alternative and, in that context, a better
chance to get other countries, perhaps countries even in the Arab
world, to be supportive of the use of force against Iraq at the present
time as they were in the gulf war in 1991.
Extensive consideration has to be given, in my judgment, to the
impact on the Arab world. Egyptian President Mubarak has been emphatic
in his concern as to what the impact will be there. So we ought to make
every effort we can to enlist the aid of as many of the nations in the
Arab world as possible.
If Saddam Hussein rebuffs the United Nations, again raising the
unmistakable inference that he has something to hide, then I think the
chances of getting additional allies there would be improved.
With respect to the situation with Israel, there is, again, grave
concern that a war with Iraq will result in Scud missiles being
directed toward Israel. Some 39 of those Scud missiles were directed
toward Israel during the gulf war. Their missile defense system was not
very good. Now we know that Israel has the Arrow system, but still all
of Israel is not protected. The Arrow system has not been adequately
tested.
In the gulf war in 1991, the Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir
honored the request of President Bush not to retaliate. It is a
different situation at the present time with Israeli Prime Minister
Sharon having announced if Israel is attacked, Israel will not sit back
again.
When former National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft published a
very erudite op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal in August, he
raised the grave concern that with Israeli nuclear power, there could
be an Armageddon in the Mideast. Former National Security Adviser Brent
Scowcroft was advising caution; that we ought not proceed without
exhausting every other alternative.
A similar position was taken by former Secretary of State James Baker
in an op-ed piece, again in August, in the New York Times urging that
inspections be pursued as a way of possibly avoiding a war.
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