Silence the War Drums

Before the US House of Representatives, February 16, 2006

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to this very dangerous legislation. My colleagues would do well to understand that this legislation is leading us toward war against Iran.

Those reading this bill may find themselves feeling a sense of déjà vu. In many cases one can just substitute "Iraq" for "Iran" in this bill and we could be back in the pre-2003 run up to war with Iraq. And the logic of this current push for war is much the same as was the logic used in the argument for war on Iraq. As earlier with Iraq, this resolution demands that Iran perform the impossible task of proving a negative – in this case that Iran does not have plans to build a nuclear weapon.

There are a few things we need to remember when thinking about Iran and this legislation. First, Iran has never been ruled in violation of its international nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

Second, Iran concluded a Safeguards Agreement more than 30 years ago that provides for the verification of Iran's fulfillment of its obligation to not divert nuclear energy programs to nuclear weapons development. Since this agreement was reached, the International Atomic Energy Agency has never found any indication that Iran has diverted or attempted to divert source or special nuclear materials from a peaceful purpose to a military purpose.

But, this does not stop those eager for conflict with Iran from stating otherwise. As the Washington Post reported last year, "U.S. officials, eager to move the Iran issue to the U.N. Security Council – which has the authority to impose sanctions – have begun a new round of briefings for allies designed to convince them that Iran's real intention is to use its energy program as a cover for bomb building. The briefings will focus on the White House's belief that a country with as much oil as Iran would not need an energy program on the scale it is planning, according to two officials."

This reminds us of the quick move to justify the invasion of Iraq by citing Iraq's "intentions" when actual weapons of mass destruction could not be found.

The resolution's second resolved clause is a real misrepresentation of the Iran/EU3 talks. The "efforts of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom" were not "to seek...suspension of enrichment and reprocessing related activities..." As the EU3-Iran Paris Agreement makes very clear, the suspension of enrichment is a purely voluntary measure taken by Iran and is "not a legal obligation."

This is similar to the situation with Iran's voluntarily observation of the Additional Protocols (allowing unannounced inspections) without legally being bound to do so. Suspending voluntary observance of the Additional Protocols is not a violation of the NPT. But, those seeking to push us toward war with Iran are purposely trying to connect the two – to confuse voluntary "confidence building" measures taken by Iran with the legally-binding Treaty itself.
Resolved clause four of this legislation is the most inflammatory and objectionable part of the legislation. It lowers the bar to initiating war on Iran. This clause anticipates that the US may not be successful in getting the Security Council to pass a Resolution because of the potential of a Russian or Chinese veto, so it "calls upon" Russia and China to "take action" in response to "any report" of "Iran's noncompliance. That is right: any report.

Mr. Speaker, this resolution is a drumbeat for war with Iran. Its logic is faulty, its premises are flawed, and its conclusions are dangerous. I urge my colleagues to stop for a moment and ponder the wisdom of starting yet another war in the Middle East.

February 20, 2006

Dr. Ron Paul is a Republican member of Congress from Texas.

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Dwight D. Eisenhower

President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Farewell Speech on 'The Military Industrial Complex' http://www.apfn.net/audio/A011I06022218543501010-eisenhower.MP3

This is Military Industrial Complex, a war tactic. It is part of War Tactics, which is part of War, which is part of Human Endeavor, which is part of Connections, which is part of Harpers.org. http://www.harpers.org/MilitaryIndustrialComplex.html

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Military Industrial Complex
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Events Related To Military Industrial Complex
2003 Jun 4 Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader, killed a Democratic attempt to extend a new tax credit to 6.5 million low-income families who were left out of President Bush's latest tax cut. "There are a lot of things that are more important than that," DeLay said. "To me, it's a little difficult to give tax relief to people that don't pay income tax."»[New York Times]
Jun 5 The General Accounting Office warned that government is using "immature technology" in its missile defense shield, which is scheduled to be deployed by 2004.»[Reuters]
Jul 17 Defense contractor Lockheed Martin filed suit against antiwar demonstrators for $41,000 in security costs the company incurred preparing for a protest.»[Veteransforcommonsense.org]
Oct 23 The Pentagon was planning to spend $335 million on high-tech solutions to the guerrilla war; the measures include electronic jamming devices, tethered blimps with digital cameras, and other "rapid-reaction/new solution" technologies.»[New York Times]
Nov 30 The Bush Administration approved a research project to develop low-yield bunker-busting nuclear weapons, or "mini-nukes."»[The Observer]
2004 Jan 7 The head of the Army Corps of Engineers waived federal contracting requirements for Halliburton's operations in Iraq that would have required the company to submit cost and pricing information on its gasoline imports even though Halliburton was recently accused of overcharging the government $61 million for gasoline.»[New York Times]
Jan 8 The Department of Homeland Security handed out three $2 million contracts to build a missile-defense system to prevent civilian aircraft from being shot down by surface-to-air missiles.»[New Scientist]
Jan 11 Lockheed Martin and Boeing were said to be enthusiastic about the President's Mars plan.»[New York Times]
Jan 23 Vice President Dick Cheney defended Halliburton, which continues to pay him a salary, from what he said were "desperate attacks" by opponents of the Bush Administration. "They're rendering great service," he said. "They do it because they're good at it, because they won the contract to do it. And frankly the company takes a certain amount of pride in rendering this kind of service to U.S. military forces."»[CNN]
Apr 22 General Electric and Siemens, two large contractors in Iraq, suspended most of their operations in the country.»[New York Times]
Facts Related To Military Industrial Complex
1999 Feb Average amount the U.S. military spent last year on recruiting, per soldier enlisted: $7,187»[U.S. Department of Defense]
Average amount the U.S. military spent last year on recruiting, per soldier enlisted in 1989: $5,460»[U.S. Department of Defense]
Jul Minimum amount that six defense contractors each paid last April to “sponsor” NATO's 50th anniversary summit: $250,000»[NATO Summit Host Committee (Washington)]
2000 Sep Ratio of Lockheed Martin's 1999 sales to the $13 million fine it will pay for giving secret technology to China: 1,962:1»[Lockheed Martin Corporation (Bethesda, Md.)/U.S. Department of State]
2001 Jan Percentage of the G-8 countries' combined military budgets it would take to halve the world's TB cases by 2010: 0.4»[World Health Organization (Washington)/ Harper's research]
2003 Nov Last year in which a quarterly rise in U.S. military spending was greater than the one last spring: 1951»[Bureau of Economic Analysis (Washington)]
Total U.S. military spending the Bush Administration projects it will have spent by the end of 2008: $3,200,000,000,000»[Office of Management and Budget (Washington)]
Total U.S. military spending between 1941 and 1948: $3,100,000,000,000 »[Office of Management and Budget (Washington)]
This is Military Industrial Complex, a war tactic. It is part of War Tactics, which is part of War, which is part of Human Endeavor, which is part of Connections, which is part of Harpers.org.

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