Returning to the United States following a week-long mission to Great Britain, Italy, Qatar, Pakistan and Afghanistan, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. held a conference call Tuesday with media representatives to review the trip and answer questions on national security issues and other matters. Accompanying Rockefeller were sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John Warner, R-Va., the chairman, ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the Senate's Intelligence and Armed Services committees.
"In my opinion, al- Qaida, North Korea and the Kashmir region between Pakistan and India pose larger threats to the U.S. than Iraq," Rockefeller said. "Having said that, through my meetings with (Secretary of Defense) Don Rumsfeld, (National Security Advisor) Condolezza Rice and other of the president's people, I'm convinced that he has made up his mind to go to war with or without the (U.N.) votes." [How many votes does this nitwit believe are necessary, considering Iraq has violated the terms of the 1991 cease fire?]
Rockefeller, the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, [Why are the stupidest ones always put on the Intelligence Committee?] said he had the opportunity to visit with many West Virginians in the National Guard, reserve and regular military units and was impressed with the "cooperation" and resolve exhibited by the servicemen and women. ... The senator is also fearful of the troops "losing their cutting edge" if diplomacy and negotiations continue for a "prolonged" period of time.
Rockefeller also said the "tide is running against us, both here and abroad" in the war on terrorism. "I spoke with a chief of Pakistan's intelligence forces about terror and he pointed to a map of Africa and South America," Rockefeller continued. "There, he said, are the next areas. It's the concept of poverty. [This guy is worth billions, as if he had a clue. Maybe he should give money to these people so they won't be so anti-America] The terrorist groups are offering to take them in, train them and pay them. The link between poverty and national security, we have to come to grips with that." [See what I mean? He can't even make a coherent statement.]
.... German and French forces, although their respective governments oppose a war with Iraq, continue to help create a modern Afghan state. "They are training a national army that will eventually replace the warlords and tribal units that have for hundreds of years controlled Afghanistan," Rockefeller said. "And they are helping to rebuild Kabul and other centers of the country." [He's crediting France and Germany for rebuilding Afghanistan? What an idiot] source
WASHINGTON - Saddam Hussein is being threatened with trial as a war criminal if the United States goes to war with Iraq. If the Iraqi president and his generals "take innocent life, if they destroy infrastructure, they will be held accountable as war criminals," U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday. source
What did they expect?
Someone needs to point out to this bozo that most, if not all, of the 9/11 murderers were college educated, middle to upper middle class men. There wasn't a poor boy among them!