[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 17465]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                WHY DID THE U.S. GO TO WAR AGAINST IRAQ?

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, why did the U.S. go to war against Iraq? 
The day after 9/11, according to this book, Secretary Rumsfeld raised 
the possibility that the administration could take advantage of the 
opportunity offered by the terrorist attacks to go after Saddam 
immediately. This, even though there was no evidence connecting Iraq to 
9/11.
  Why did the U.S. go to war against Iraq? On September 18, 2002, Mr. 
Rumsfeld told Congress, ``Hussein has at this moment stockpiles of 
chemical and biological weapons and is pursuing nuclear weapons.'' 
There was no evidence of that either.
  Why did the U.S. go to war against Iraq? Yesterday Mr. Rumsfeld told 
Congress it was not because we had discovered dramatic new evidence of 
Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. ``We acted because we 
saw the evidence in a dramatic new light through the prism of our 
experience on 9/11.''
  Why did the U.S. go to war against Iraq? 9/11 was an excuse, no 
imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction.
  Now, the administration keeps changing its story, but they cannot 
change the facts. They led this Nation into war against a Nation that 
had not attacked us, that had no intention or capability of attacking 
us. Congress must hold public hearings because the truth and our 
democracy is at stake.

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