Posted on 09/23/2002 2:10:35 PM PDT by Gumlegs
WASHINGTON--Lawmakers predicted Sunday that President Bush's request for a mandate to restore regional security in the Mideast would be scaled down to address just Iraq, to allow Saddam Hussein to counter-attack as long as he does it from some other country.
The White House has proposed a resolution that would authorize the president ''to use all means that he determines to be appropriate, including force, in order to ... defend the national security interests of the United States against the threat posed by Iraq, and restore international peace and security in the region.''
''It's much too broad, there's no limit at all on presidential powers,'' said Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, "Just who does George Bush think he is, President of the United States?"
''There needs to be some changes. ... It [the resolution] is not even limited to Iraq,'' Levin (D-Mich.) said on 'Fox News Sunday. "Clearly, we have a responsibility to tie the president's hands. He's not a Democrat, so we can't have him responding to attacks from, well, ... it doesn't matter where ... Iran, Syria, France, or where ever without specific, prior Congressional approval. We don't want American fighting men and women shooting back at anyone unless Congress says it's okay first. Hell, they shouldn't even duck without an okay from Congress. What if they guy they were shooting at would have missed?''
Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, "We can't just let our armed services shoot at any target they feel like. The resolution has to restrict return fire to 'specific, known, active, credible, and direct threats.' We're almost finished with a 75,000 page manual so the people 'in the field' can determine what is a legally 'credible threat.' Janet Reno has worked with us on this."
''I predict we can roll the White House on this,'' Biden told CNN's "Late Edition," adding that the Pentagon will probably go along with it, because, "Hell, they're interested in the next round of appropriations, too, if you know what I mean. They know who butters their bread."
Some Republicans sympathized with the need to contain the language. ''These are very, very important definitions, because it will guide the president and this nation probably into war,'' Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said on ABC's 'This Week, "and if we didn't do something to make it fighting difficult for the armed forces we wouldn't feel as though we were doing our job."
Even those comfortable with the proposed language said they would accommodate change to speed it through. The White House wants the legislation to pass before Congress recesses before the Nov. 5 elections.
''What the hell,'' said Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill), chairman of the House International Relations Committee,"after I got rolled by the Senate on the Clinton Impeachment, what do I care?"
Hagel and Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) predicted the resolution would pass before the elections, but Biden warned that Bush needed to work harder to explain his plans.
''The American people are strategically and tactically in the dark here,'' Kyl said. ''You need to tell them what exactly we'll do, and how and when we are going to do it. They need to know the shipping routes, the invasion sites, the bombing plans, how many troops are involved, how many tanks and helicopters we'll use, how many bullets, whether or not the anti-chemical & biological warfare suits are effective, and exactly how the 'smart bombs' work so that a guy in Manhattan, Kansas won't make a call on his cell phone and accidentally interfere with the guidance system. What's the President afraid of? Does he think the Iraqis read the New York Times?''
He and Levin also urged Bush to work closely with the Security Council, saying it would give the U.N. a chance to leak plans to the Iraqis.
UP & IP
Yes, they do!!!
What an idiot.
As much as I'd like to step on and squash both Biden and that mental midget, Daschle, I would sure hate to get some of that stuff on my shoes!
You silly thing, you!
Was he born stupid, or did he work at it?
I can't believe that this moron actually used his brain to form these words! Talk about a mindless bureaucracy!
This quote has to go into the same class as Marion Barry's low crime in DC except for the killings...
Y'all watch & see.
The detoothed hounds in both houses are in for a *rude* surprise if they think they'll get away with any baloney with Dubya.
...now that's just a fact which has been proven, before.
(btw 'legs - off-topic, here; know what it's been like living with my redheaded Wolverine-fan bride the past couple weeks?? Hmmmmm?) ;^)
... that these remarks sound so authentic.
Trumpet this from every rooftop. At 1 minute per page, this would take 75,000 minutes just to read it, much less comprehend its meaning. That's 1250 hours! By the time a soldier finishes studying it, his tour will be over! Is this really a true statement?
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