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CounterPunch
September
30, 2002
Alternatives
to War
by
REP. BARBARA LEE
Our nation is today on the verge of going to war
against Iraq. In a rush to launch a first strike, we risk destabilizing
the Middle East and setting an international precedent that could
come back to haunt us all. President Bush's doctrine of pre-emption
violates international law, the charter of the United Nations
and our own long-term security interests. It forecloses alternatives
to war before we have even tried to pursue them.
The president has submitted a resolution
to Congress seeking a proverbial blank check to wage war against
Iraq using "all means." Just two weeks ago, he went
to the United Nations and called on that organization to prove
its relevancy by ensuring Iraq's disarmament. But he has undermined
the United Nation's chances to succeed, first by issuing it an
ultimatum and now by asking Congress for a use-of-force resolution
that distorts the language of the U.N. charter, supports a pre-emptive
strike by the United States and ignores the grave security risks
posed by such an approach.
The president has told us that we must
attack Iraq because our nation is in imminent danger from Saddam
Hussein. We have received no proof of immediate danger, and scant
evidence that Iraq has the means or intent to use weapons of
mass destruction against us. We have not been told why the danger
is greater today than it was a year or two ago or why we must
rush to war rather than pursuing other options. We have not given
the United Nations time to try to reach diplomatic solutions.
We do know that virtually all of our
allies are strongly opposed to a first strike by the United States.
Statesmen such as Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandela have beseeched
us to turn away from this disastrous course. The majority of
the world is opposed to forced regime change.
We all agree that the world would be
better off without Hussein in power, but we would be better off
still if we eliminate weapons of mass destruction from the entire
world.
President Bush has asked Congress to
provide him with "all means that he determines to be appropriate
including force" to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions
against Iraq. This resolution is based on the false assumption
that we have no other options; it also falls short of a fundamental
constitutional standard -- an actual declaration of war. Furthermore,
the resolution is misleading: While it includes language from
the U.N. charter acknowledging the right to national self-defense,
it deliberately omits the charter's next crucial words: "if
an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations."
The desire to rush to war glides over
the tremendous costs and risks involved, including the dangers
for American servicemen and women and for Iraqi civilians, as
well as the potential destabilization of the Middle East. War
would likely derail any chance at a Palestinian-Israeli agreement,
while trampling international law and U.N. principles and setting
a terrible international precedent. It would also sidetrack efforts
to prevent terrorism. Moreover, it would divert some $200 billion
from our own profound domestic needs, including health care,
prescription drugs, education and homeland security.
This is a price we do not have to pay.
There are viable and more effective alternatives. For these reasons,
I have introduced House Concurrent Resolution 473, which urges
the United States to re-engage the diplomatic process and stresses
our government's commitment to the U.N. inspections process.
Containment and inspections have worked and can work in the future.
President Bush called on the United Nations
to assume its responsibilities. I call on the United States to
assume ours by working with the United Nations to ensure that
Iraq is not developing weapons of mass destruction by utilizing
mechanisms such as the resumption of arms inspections, negotiation,
regional cooperation and other diplomatic means.
Barbara
Lee, D-Oakland, has represented the East Bay in Congress since
1998. She has voted against using force in international conflicts,
at least twice as a lone dissenter -- in last year's anti-terrorist
authorization and in 1999, when the House approved the bombing
of Serbia.
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September
21 / 22, 2002
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