Posted on 09/10/2002 12:57:09 PM PDT by Zviadist
Congressman Ron Paul
U.S. House of Representatives
September 10, 2002
QUESTIONS THAT WON'T BE ASKED ABOUT IRAQ
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.
1. 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 dollar 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 Musharaf 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?
Nope. The Ames strain is rather common in legitimate and bioweapons research around the world. Fort Detrick is the biggest producer, and almost all Ames in labs around the world can be traced (at variable amounts of distance) from Fort Detrick.
Glad to help. By the way, that statement should read, "I'm so glad YOU'RE here..."
Then if you care to point us to anyone else who -- with evidence -- is claiming that Iraq was behind 9/11 then by all means post it. Otherwise, it is you who should remain quiet. All this bluster, yet still no facts. Yeah, you guys have credibility.
Interesting how tough guys like him managed to stay out of the military and thus avoid any kind of danger to themselves. Perhaps they are now trying to compensate with hot air for what they didn't have the guts for in deed?
I thank you for the courageous gesture, Zviadist. But, alas, that seems to be all that is left in the bag of tricks---gestures. I cannot help but hear Samuel Barber's Agnus Dei in the background as I read this thread; it's whispering in the background on the horns-blaring-flags-waving threads--but it's there too. A melancholy truth barely audible over the cheerful tap-tapping of all the ignorant, insulated, spoiled, pontius pilates who know not what they do.
And I am struck by the essential helplessness--the impotence--of Rep Paul's presentation here. No declarative sentences, no thunderous J'ACCUSE! But rather a feline, byzantine series of questions--many quite irritating.
I know, I know. Rep. Paul does not have a thunderously declarative personality. I cannot stamp my foot and demand that a great champion arise and out-joust every person, every institution, every thirty pieces of silver, every road leading to Rome in the fianl decades--and vanquish then all in one heart-stopping, last minute speech.
But I do anyway.
And Iraq did? Would you mind telling me when that occured?
I have not read the rest of your screed, as this first point is so egregiously retarded that I cannot hope to see any intelligence in the rest of your post. Unbelievable.
I once said that I did not laugh at you with contempt.
That is no longer the case.....
You show me where in the Constitution it says that the government has the authority to take my money to care for any foreign people. You may profess to admire Ron Paul, but have you even bothered to read the Constitution? That is his whole bag, if you didn't know.
You guys want to reply to the tough-guy who posted this?
No, and don't look for any of the solipsitic twits who now constitute a clear majority of the voting public in our glorious democracy to make any connection in their minds between our rage, horror, sorrow and grief over the 3,000 dead, desecrated bodies at "Ground Zero" and the rage, horror, sorrow, and grief of human beings (yes HUMAN BEINGS) who have been bombed by us and who live under the permanent threat of high-tech chatisment from our clean, mean killing machines.
How many descriptions have we read of the smell of death in New York? Do the flabby lap-top bombadiers imagine that because the neato-keen pictures they see flashing on their screens do not show the blood and bone and excrement that the people we bomb do not die as horribly?
As with the fetal extermination industry, the discovery of a clean, well-lighted place to do the work is one of the most horrifying facts of modern American life. No blood can ever upset our view at 14,000 feet. Not even the blood of Jesus.
Yea verily, we are truly liberated.....
Would you kindly tell me where I claimed that he is?
Of course he is a dictator. There are dozens around the world, including our ally Musharaf in Pakistan. So what?
The real issue is that I see you trying to deflect the question, which remains: show me who is providing proof -- or any credible evidence -- that Saddam was involved in 9/11. Don't contort, provide evidence.
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