Posted on 10/10/2002 8:21:15 AM PDT by BigWaveBetty
WASHINGTON - The House headed for a strong vote Thursday to open the way for President Bush to wage war against Iraq if he decides force alone can subdue Saddam Hussein. The Senate brushed off more efforts to weaken the measure.
By a 66-31 vote, the Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. [ha-ha!] — the most outspoken Senate opponent of the war resolution — that would have ended the authorization for him to use force against Iraq after two years.
Bipartisan support for Bush's request for war authority was growing steadily, and chances seemed good he'd have the measure on his desk by week's end to put the nation on combat-ready footing.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said the administration believed the House will give the measure "a large bipartisan vote" approving it.
"The president hopes this will send a strong message to the world, and to Iraq, that if Iraq does not obey the U.N. resolutions, that the United States is prepared to enforce the peace," Fleischer said.
A bipartisan vote for the president appeared likely in the House, and the Senate could follow by the end of the week, putting the nation on a combat-ready footing.
Bush, who has stressed that he has made no decision on launching a military strike against Baghdad, has urged Congress to stand with him as he presses the U.N. Security Council to approve a new resolution demanding that Iraq abide by comprehensive inspections and disarmament or face the consequences.
The Senate was likely to clear a hurdle Thursday with a vote to deter a possible filibuster by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., a tenacious opponent of ceding congressional warmaking powers to the president.
"Congress is being stampeded, pressured, adjured, importuned into acting on this blank check," said Byrd, the Senate's 84-year-old president pro tempore. [boo-hoo!]
Progress was slower on the diplomatic front, where three members of the U.N. Security Council — France, Russia and China — continued to hold out against a U.S.-British proposal sanctioning military action if Iraq does not comply with coercive inspections.
A 25-minute telephone call between Bush and French President Jacques Chirac on Wednesday failed to yield a breakthrough over wording of a new Security Council resolution to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "This is intricate diplomacy and we are continuing our consultations," White House spokesman Sean McCormack said.[will this frog ever learn?]
In Paris, Chirac spokeswoman Catherine Colonna said the French president was open to strengthening the powers of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, but still could not accept making military recourse an automatic response should they be hampered. In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yuri Fedotov relayed a similar stance.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, interviewed on CNN's "Larry King Live" program, said world leaders were coming together on Iraq. "There is a new determination, a new understanding within the international community that we cannot turn away from it this time, we cannot look away and trust Saddam Hussein to do the right thing," he said.
Debate in the House went deep into the night both Tuesday and Wednesday, with nearly every member intent on expressing the necessity, and gravity, of granting authority to send Americans into war. [Yea!]
"I know the heartache and pain of the families that are left behind," said a tearful Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif., who was a pilot in the Vietnam War.
But Cunningham and almost every Republican backed the president. "It's time we go straight to the eye and dismantle the elements from which the storm of brutal, repressive tyranny and terrorism radiate," said Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., He said that as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, "I can attest to the evilness of Saddam Hussein." [Go Porter Go!]
About half the Democrats were ready to vote for an alternative proposal, sponsored by Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., that would authorize the use of U.S. force in conjunction with U.N. punishment of Iraq, but require the president to come back for a second vote if he wants to act unilaterally against Saddam. The White House-backed resolution encourages cooperation with U.N. efforts, but gives the go-ahead for unilateral action.
Many Democrats said unilateral action could come at a terrible cost in lives and resources, set a bad precedent for other countries seeking to depose the leaders of other countries and create a backlash in the Muslim world. [yadda, yadda, yadda]
"It is not a victory to strike down one tyrant and breed 10,000 terrorists," said Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., a supporter of the Spratt proposal.
A similar proposal offered by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and debated Wednesday night in the Senate also seemed headed for defeat. An amendment by Sen. Bob Graham , D-Fla., to expand Bush's authority for pre-emptive military action to include five terror organizations, went down, 88-10.
At the same time, several senior Democrats said they would support the White House-backed resolution, with reservations, including Sen. Harry Reid [Reid is a nut. He calls Art Bell in the middle of the night to talk about aliens.] of Nevada, the Senate's second-ranked Democrat, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del.
Reid urged Bush to use his war-making powers carefully, saying: "As president of the United States, you are the leader of the free world, not its ruler." Biden, who had favored more checks on presidential authority, came along as well, saying the measure would help give the administration more leverage before the Security Council.
"If Saddam Hussein is around five years from now, we are in deep trouble as a country," Biden said.[I knew there was a tiny bit of brain in that Biden head somewhere!]
Seriously, you probably have a mineral deficiency or absorption problem. The teeth and jawbone are the first to show trouble, it would be worth it to get it checked out. (and don't let them tell you it's your age!)
Hey mountaineer from way over here! Hope you're having a jolly good time.
Sorry y'all, I still feel yucky. I try to read to gather up some goodies and nothing seems very interesting. I get half way through a paragraph and find myself just staring at the screen. Enough griping, going back to bed.
JL, I'm not sure if that bbq thing looks good or not. See what I mean??!! ack!
Check in later.
Hang in there BWB and get better soon.
I will try to get a new thread up but if you all don't hear from me in the next hour it means more trouble. So someone please start a new one until I can find out what's going on.
Thanks!! Everyone cross your fingers.... here I go!
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