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Senator Robert Byrd: Bush's War Plans are a Cover-Up
(Paul J. Nyden, West Virginia Gazette, September 21, 2002)
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., said President Bush's plans to invade Iraq are a conscious effort to distract public attention from growing problems at home. . . . "This administration, all of a sudden, wants to go to war with Iraq," Byrd said. "The [political] polls are dropping, the domestic situation has problems.... So all of a sudden we have this war talk, war fervor, the bugles of war, drums of war, clouds of war. . . . "Don't tell me that things suddenly went wrong. Back in August, the president had no plans.... Then all of a sudden this country is going to war," Byrd told the Senate on Friday. . . . Byrd warned of another Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. . . . Byrd said, "Before the nation is committed to war, before we send our sons and daughters to battle in faraway lands, there are critical questions that must be asked. To date, the answers from the administration have been less than satisfying." . . . Byrd repeatedly said Bush has failed to give members of Congress any evidence about any immediate danger from Iraq. . . . "Instead of using the forum of the U.N. General Assembly to offer evidence and proof of his claims, the president basically told the nations of the world that you are either with me, or against me," Byrd said. . . . Byrd said Congress needs solid evidence and answers to several specific questions, including:

* Does Saddam Hussein pose an imminent threat to the U.S.?

* Should the United States act alone?

* What would be the repercussions in the Middle East and around the globe?

* How many civilians would die in Iraq?

* How many American forces would be involved?

* How do we afford this war?

* Will the U.S. respond with nuclear weapons if Saddam Hussein uses chemical or biological weapons against U.S. soldiers?

* Does the U.S. have enough military and intelligence resources to fight wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, while mobilizing resources to prevent attacks on our own shores?

Byrd said the proposed resolution Bush sent Congress on Thursday would be the "broadest possible grant of war powers to any president in the history of our Republic. The resolution is a direct insult and an affront to the powers given to Congress." . . . "I cannot believe the gall and the arrogance of the White House in requesting such a broad grant of war powers," Byrd said. "This is the worst kind of election-year politics."

posted by LoZo 4:37 PM