War Powers Granted
by Nancy A. Bock


October 11, 2002

By overwhelming margins, a bipartisan vote of both houses of Congress granted President George W. Bush the "war-making" powers he sought to force Iraq to disarm.

Long Island representatives voted unanimously to support the President, although each attached caveats and warnings to their votes. By a vote of 296 to 133 in the House (Thursday) and 77 to 23 in the Senate (Friday), Congress agreed that the threat from Saddam Hussein warrants the possibly extreme action Bush proposed.

"The real questions that we should be asking are not about whether something should be done about Iraq," Congressman Gary Ackerman said. "Something must be done. Our national security requires it." He added, "Saddam Hussein is pure evil."

"It is clear that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons," Senator Hillary Clinton said.

Yet Congress did exact a promise from Bush that he would exhaust all other diplomatic avenues before taking unilateral action. "A vote for [the resolution] is not a vote to rush to war; it is a vote that puts awesome responsibility in the hands of our President and we say to him - use these powers wisely and as a last resort. And it is a vote that says clearly to Saddam Hussein - this is your last chance - disarm or be disarmed," Clinton warned.

Congressman Felix Grucci feels that Hussein poses a continuing threat to peace. "Without fully disarming Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction, America and our allies cannot be safe and the War on Terrorism will not be won," he said.

"Saddam Hussein is a tyrant who has tortured and killed his own people, even his own family members, to maintain his iron grip on power," Clinton said, echoing a sentiment that seemed to run through many elected officials.

One impetus for granting Bush the wide ranging power is the expectation that if Hussein does in fact have the weapons he will not hesitate to use them in the U.S. "We must not allow America's major cities to be the testing site for Saddam's nuclear capability," Grucci argued.

Congressman Steve Israel agreed, noting, "I fear that unchecked, Saddam Hussein will gain nuclear weapons capability sooner than anyone could have predicted.

Bush has insisted he has made no decision to use military force but that the support of Congress allows him to push the United Nations into approving tougher resolution to disarm Iraq. Even with Congress' backing it could still take months to assemble a military campaign to engage Iraq.

However, as Israel put it, "fighting sooner is less costly than fighting later."

Impeach yourselves....