Posted on 09/12/2002 4:34:17 PM PDT by Ranger
WASHINGTON The US has a responsibility to ensure Israelis are protected against weapons of mass destruction before it decides to launch a military offensive to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
"A central component of any strike on Iraq must be to ensure that the Israeli government, if it so chooses, has the means to vaccinate every citizen of Israel before action is initiated," Netanyahu told the House Government Reform Committee.
"Ensuring this is not merely the responsibility of the government of Israel, but also the responsibility of the government of the United States."
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's inner cabinet decided last month to vaccinate 15,000 first responders for smallpox but has postponed a decision on any wider vaccination plan.
Netanyahu, who is expected to challenge Sharon for control of the Likud, said the "overwhelming majority" of Israelis support a preemptive strike against Saddam even though they will be the target of any Iraqi retaliation.
In an indictment of opponents to a US-led preemptive attack on Iraq, he said, "We support this preemptive action even though we stand on the front line, while others criticize it as they sit comfortably on the sidelines."
Netanyahu echoed many of the indictments of Saddam aired by President George W. Bush at the UN and stressed above all the dangers posed by a nuclear-armed Saddam.
"A nuclear-armed Saddam will place the security of our entire world at risk. Make no mistake about it. Once Saddam has nuclear weapons, the terror network will have nuclear weapons. And once the terror network has nuclear weapons, it is only a matter of time before those weapons will be used," he said.
Netanyahu added that "even free and unfettered inspections will not uncover" Saddam's "portable manufacturing sites of mass death."
He said that while Iran is "outpacing Iraq" in its development of weapons of mass destruction, regime change in Iran may be possible without outside interference, especially once Saddam is removed from power.
He also warned, as he has repeatedly in the past, that Saddam could use "terror proxies" to spread weapons of mass destruction in the US.
Saddam will have his troops using every woman, child, baby, over there as a human shield. Our soldiers will walk into a situation where they may hesitate to shoot. The only thing I care about is a zero body bag count for our troops. Impossible? Well, maybe, but that is what I would shoot for if I were their commanding officer.
Israel hasn't allowed itself to be as hamstrung as we are in their weapons capabilities. Some of their nutron weapons only take out several blocks, not entire cities. The radiation from their nutron weapons disperses within 20 mins allowing troops to walk the area in safety. You darn right I want them to use them.
In regards to the women, children, babies, being used as a human shields, that's a shame, give them notice to remove themselves from the area. Our first responsibility is to our own, period. I look at our wonderful military men, and I think of their mom's, how proud they must be to see the results of 2,000 diaper changes, nights spent walking the floor with, and sitting beside his bedside through chicken pox, and ear aches, I see the sacrifice made for his first foot ball uniform, karate lessons, that guitar he never learned to play. I WANT HIM TO COME HOME ALIVE. I'm for protecting that mother's years of investment in love and hope. And I am not above killing the entire enemy forces, their dogs, cats, women, children, babies, to get that done.
While a 12 year old, and his mother in Bagdad, are sneaking around a corner to shoot our man in the back, his 12 year old is back home getting ready for a baseball game. Yeah, I'm cold, and Saddam should be ever so thankful that I have no say in the matter.
Saddam most certainly didn't have such plans before the Gulf War, but after 10 years of sanctions, the near total destruction of his armed forces, and possibly up to 300,000 casualties suffered in that war, he is now our mortal enemy. Do you think he's just going to forget about all that?
And no, I don't believe he would be stupid enough to "throw" a nuke at us (using a conventional delivery system). However, a nuke housed in a lead container floating into one of our harbors would be one that would be rather difficult (although far from impossible) to trace back to its maker. I could see him using this method, possibly in a plan using al Qaeda.
So, in Saddam, we have a madman who A) possesss WMD, and has no qualms about using them (ask the Kurds), B) has a motive to use them against the U.S. (especially if we're unable to trace it with complete certainty).
We have Muslim enemies who much more actively threaten us.
Fear not, they're next.
How do you know Saddam wasn't responsible for our episode of anthrax almost a year ago? And there's evidence to suggest that he's been allowing al Qaeda to train within his borders, so that would make him an accomplice to the direct attack on our country. In my book (and in the administration's, thankfully), that's a threat. In addition, a madman like that who's already used WMD against his own people could (and probably has) sold vast quantities to terrorist orgs that have already declared war on us. This is why most (if not all) rational people agree on pre-emptive action.
If Saddam tries what he did a decade ago, and fires Scuds into Israel concurrent with our attack (but with WMD aboard this time), his nation will be utterly annihilated within minutes, with millions dead. Let's hope he's wise enough not to do so.
bttt
Welcome to a new world; I think you are a victim of the previous administration's inability to do anything--
It's much more snug and safer (perceived) to say, "It hasn't happened today, so we're okay"..........sorry friend, that's not the reality. Now is not the time for waffling, indecision. We don't revisit Saddam five years from now because the sun rose this morning.
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