[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 17448]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



   TEN YEARS AFTER, U.S. POLICY TOWARD KUWAIT STANDS THE TEST OF TIME

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. DOUG BEREUTER

                              of nebraska

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 7, 2000

  Mr. BEREUTER. Mr. Speaker, it was 10 years ago that the tiny Persian 
Gulf nation of Kuwait was invaded by Saddam Hussein's ruthless regime 
in Iraq. As a result of the exceptional leadership of President George 
Bush, the United States led a coalition of forces that soundly defeated 
the aggressor, and restored legitimate rule to Kuwait. At the time, the 
President's decision was heavily criticized by some; but the 
intervening decade has demonstrated that the decision to oppose Saddam 
Hussein was correct.
  Mr. Speaker, it is appropriate for Members of this body to reflect on 
the risks that were involved in Operation Desert Storm. It was a 
remarkable achievement, made possible by the professionalism and 
dedication of our armed forces and those of our allies. In an era when 
politicians motives are cynically dissected by self-appointed pundits, 
we should be grateful that 10 years ago America stood against tyranny 
and barbarism.
  Mr. Speaker, this Member would commend to his colleagues an editorial 
in the August 12, 2000, edition of the Omaha World-Herald. As this 
editorial correctly notes; ``Operation Desert Storm prevented Iraq's 
dictator from spreading instability throughout the Middle East. 
Stopping that threat was an honorable cause of which Americans can be 
proud.''

              [From the Omaha World-Herald, Aug. 12, 2000]

                        Gulf War Stands the Test

       This month marks the 10-year anniversary of the Iraqi 
     invasion of Kuwait, which set the stage for the Persian Gulf 
     War. That war has been dismissed in some circles as either a 
     selfish and misguided attempt by the United States to 
     maintain its dependence on foreign oil or, more cynically, as 
     a chance for then-President George Bush to prove he was a 
     tough guy. It was neither.
       In the first place, maintaining access to gulf oil is a 
     perfectly justifiable goal. Maintaining international access 
     to any fundamental economic resource, and ensuring that the 
     sea lanes remain open in one of the world's busiest maritime 
     corridors, are legitimate security interests for the United 
     States.
       What many discussions of the Gulf War ignore is that by 
     conquering Kuwait, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was working 
     toward dominating the entire Middle East. His next step would 
     probably have been to threaten war against Israel or Saudi 
     Arabia. The outcome of such a regional war could have been 
     catastrophic.
       Has Saddam been allowed to retain control of Kuwait--which 
     was a sovereign country, after all--he would have reaped an 
     enormous financial windfall by expropriating that nation's 
     oil. With those funds, he could have strengthened his army, 
     which was already the fourth-largest in the world, as well as 
     his offensive missile program, which we now know included 
     ambitious efforts to produce chemical and biological weapons.
       Even before Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, Saddam made clear in 
     a speech that he intended to rain down ``fire'' on Israel--a 
     reference widely interpreted at the time as a threat to 
     bombard Israel with missiles. That threat became reality, of 
     course, during the Gulf War.
       The abuses perpetrated by Iraqi forces in Kuwait also 
     demonstrated the ruthlessness of Saddam's regime. Iraqi 
     soldiers killed at least 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians and operated 
     at least two dozen torture sites in Kuwait City, David 
     Scheffer, U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, 
     said this week. The Iraqis took thousands of hostages and 
     used many of them as human shields. Saddam's forces, in other 
     words, routinely and openly violated the Geneva Convention.
       Additional evidence of Saddam's recklessness came in the 
     final stages of the war, when he ordered his troops to set 
     more than 500 Kuwait well heads on fire and open dozens of 
     others so that more than 7 million gallons of oil spilled 
     into the Persian Gulf.
       It's true that, a decade later, Saddam's power is greatly 
     reduced and it's increasingly hard to ignore the suffering of 
     Iraqi civilians due to Saddam's manipulation of the 
     international embargo.
       But when it comes to the allies' action against Saddam 
     during 1990-91, the expulsion of his forces from Kuwait was 
     fully justified. Operation Desert Storm prevented Iraq's 
     dictator from spreading instability throughout the Middle 
     East. Stopping that threat was an honorable cause of which 
     Americans can be proud.

     

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