Congressman Ron Paul
Cong. Ron Paul has some very good questions about Iraq
Sat Sep 14 06:10:20 2002
208.152.73.36

Congressman Ron Paul has some very good questions about Iraq
that he is concerned will not be allowed to be asked...

Congressman Paul:

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2002/tst090902.htm


The Case against War in Iraq

For weeks I have been arguing that Congress needs to debate
the wisdom of a war in Iraq. Recently I gave a speech
before the House of Representatives outlining why I believe
such a war would be exceedingly unwise.

First, there are practical military reasons not to initiate
a war in Iraq. Our military has been severely weakened over
the last decade. Conservative estimates call for 200,000
troops to mount a successful invasion of Iraq. Placing
200,000 soldiers in Iraq- with hundreds of thousands
already deployed around the globe - will further dilute our
ability to defend our own shores.

Remember, we do not know exactly how long this conflict
will last. It could be a six-day war, a six-month war, or
six years. We ought to listen to the generals and other
military experts, including Colin Powell, Brent Scowcroft,
Anthony Zinni, and Norman Schwarzkopf, who are now advising
us NOT to go to war. They understand that our troops have
been spread too thin around the world, and it is dangerous
from a purely military standpoint to go to war today.

There are economic reasons to avoid this war. We can do
serious damage to our already faltering economy. An
invasion of Iraq may well cost over a hundred billion
dollars, especially when we cannot know the outcome or
duration of the conflict. Our national debt is increasing
at a rate of over $450 billion yearly, yet we are talking
about spending a hundred billion dollars pursuing another
nation-building adventure in Iraq. What will happen to the
economy if oil skyrockets to $30 a barrel and lines form at
gas stations? Will the current recession deepen? What will
happen to the deficit? We must not kid ourselves about the
economic ramifications.

There are clear philosophical reasons for those who believe
in limited government to oppose this war. "War is the
health of the state," as the saying goes. War necessarily
means more power is given to the state. This additional
power always results in a loss of liberty. Many of the
worst government programs of the 20th century began during
wartime "emergencies" and were never abolished. War and big
government go hand in hand, but we should be striving for
peace and freedom.

Finally, there is a compelling moral argument against war
in Iraq. Military force is justified only in self-defense;
naked aggression is the province of dictators and rogue
states. This is the danger of a new "preemptive first
strike" doctrine. America is the most moral nation on
earth, founded on moral principles, and we must apply moral
principles when deciding to use military force.

If we once again wage war without a clear declaration of
war by Congress, as we have done on so many occasions since
World War II, we further damage the Constitution. I fear we
will engage our troops in a haphazard way, by executive
order, or even by begging permission from the anti-American
United Nations. This haphazard approach, combined with the
lack of clearly defined goal for victory, makes it almost
inevitable that true victory will not come. When Congress
evades its responsibilities and allows war to be declared
by the President or an international body, it ceases to
represent the very people for whom the war supposedly will
be fought.

Questions That Won't Be Asked About Iraq

by Rep. Ron Paul, MD

In the House of Representatives, September 10, 2002

Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq.
I am concerned there are some questions that won’t be asked
– and maybe will not even be allowed to be asked. Here are
some questions I would like answered by those who are
urging us to start this war.

Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet
Union at the height of the Cold War was because we knew
they could retaliate?
2. Is it not also true that we are willing to bomb Iraq now
because we know it cannot retaliate – which just confirms
that there is no real threat?

3. Is it not true that those who argue that even with
inspections we cannot be sure that Hussein might be hiding
weapons, at the same time imply that we can be more sure
that weapons exist in the absence of inspections?

4. Is it not true that the UN’s International Atomic Energy
Agency was able to complete its yearly verification mission
to Iraq just this year with Iraqi cooperation?

5. Is it not true that the intelligence community has been
unable to develop a case tying Iraq to global terrorism at
all, much less the attacks on the United States last year?
Does anyone remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers came from
Saudi Arabia and that none came from Iraq?

6. Was former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent
Cannistraro wrong when he recently said there is no
confirmed evidence of Iraq’s links to terrorism?

7. Is it not true that the CIA has concluded there is no
evidence that a Prague meeting between 9/11 hijacker Atta
and Iraqi intelligence took place?

8. Is it not true that northern Iraq, where the
administration claimed al-Qaeda were hiding out, is in the
control of our "allies," the Kurds?

9. Is it not true that the vast majority of al-Qaeda
leaders who escaped appear to have safely made their way to
Pakistan, another of our so-called allies?

10. Has anyone noticed that Afghanistan is rapidly sinking
into total chaos, with bombings and assassinations becoming
daily occurrences; and that according to a recent UN report
the al-Qaeda "is, by all accounts, alive and well and
poised to strike again, how, when, and where it chooses"?

11. Why are we taking precious military and intelligence
resources away from tracking down those who did attack the
United States – and who may again attack the United States
– and using them to invade countries that have not attacked
the United States?

12. Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab
world's worst suspicions about the US – and isn't this what
bin Laden wanted?

13. How can Hussein be compared to Hitler when he has no
navy or air force, and now has an army 1/5 the size of
twelve years ago, which even then proved totally inept at
defending the country?

14. Is it not true that the constitutional power to declare
war is exclusively that of the Congress? Should presidents,
contrary to the Constitution, allow Congress to concur only
when pressured by public opinion? Are presidents permitted
to rely on the UN for permission to go to war?

15. Are you aware of a Pentagon report studying charges
that thousands of Kurds in one village were gassed by the
Iraqis, which found no conclusive evidence that Iraq was
responsible, that Iran occupied the very city involved, and
that evidence indicated the type of gas used was more
likely controlled by Iran not Iraq?

16. Is it not true that anywhere between 100,000 and
300,000 US soldiers have suffered from Persian Gulf War
syndrome from the first Gulf War, and that thousands may
have died?

17. Are we prepared for possibly thousands of American
casualties in a war against a country that does not have
the capacity to attack the United States?

18. Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a $100
billion war against Iraq, with oil prices expected to
skyrocket and further rattle an already shaky American
economy? How about an estimated 30 years occupation of Iraq
that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?

19. Iraq’s alleged violations of UN resolutions are given
as reason to initiate an attack, yet is it not true that
hundreds of UN Resolutions have been ignored by various
countries without penalty?

20. Did former President Bush not cite the UN Resolution of
1990 as the reason he could not march into Baghdad, while
supporters of a new attack assert that it is the very
reason we can march into Baghdad?

21. Is it not true that, contrary to current claims, the
no-fly zones were set up by Britain and the United States
without specific approval from the United Nations?

22. If we claim membership in the international community
and conform to its rules only when it pleases us, does this
not serve to undermine our position, directing animosity
toward us by both friend and foe?

23. How can our declared goal of bringing democracy to Iraq
be believable when we prop up dictators throughout the
Middle East and support military tyrants like Musharraf in
Pakistan, who overthrew a democratically-elected president?


24. Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings that
revealed the U.S. knowingly supplied chemical and
biological materials to Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war and
as late as 1992 – including after the alleged Iraqi gas
attack on a Kurdish village?

25. Did we not assist Saddam Hussein’s rise to power by
supporting and encouraging his invasion of Iran? Is it
honest to criticize Saddam now for his invasion of Iran,
which at the time we actively supported?

26. Is it not true that preventive war is synonymous with
an act of aggression, and has never been considered a moral
or legitimate US policy?

27. Why do the oil company executives strongly support this
war if oil is not the real reason we plan to take over
Iraq?

28. Why is it that those who never wore a uniform and are
confident that they won’t have to personally fight this war
are more anxious for this war than our generals?

29. What is the moral argument for attacking a nation that
has not initiated aggression against us, and could not if
it wanted?

30. Where does the Constitution grant us permission to wage
war for any reason other than self-defense?

31. Is it not true that a war against Iraq rejects the
sentiments of the time-honored Treaty of Westphalia, nearly
400 years ago, that countries should never go into another
for the purpose of regime change?

32. Is it not true that the more civilized a society is,
the less likely disagreements will be settled by war?

33. Is it not true that since World War II Congress has not
declared war and – not coincidentally – we have not since
then had a clear-cut victory?


34. Is it not true that Pakistan, especially through its
intelligence services, was an active supporter and key
organizer of the Taliban?

35. Why don't those who want war bring a formal declaration
of war resolution to the floor of Congress?

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



Main Page -09/18/02

Message Board by American Patriot Friends Network [APFN]

APFN MESSAGEBOARD ARCHIVES

messageboard.gif (4314 bytes)