Posted on 10/08/2002 4:55:02 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 8 — CIA Director George Tenet told lawmakers Tuesday that Saddam Hussein might not use his weapons of mass destruction unless provoked by an imminent U.S.-led attack.
Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., a fierce opponent of the President Bush's Iraq war resolution, indicated he would use delaying tactics in an effort to block the measure. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said that could easily put off a final vote until next week.
Eventual approval of the administration-backed resolution still appeared likely and it was gaining broad bipartisan support in both chambers. A final House vote was expected by late Thursday.
"We take this step knowing that Saddam Hussein is a threat to the American people, to Iraq's neighbors and to the civilized world at large," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as the House opened its three-day debate on the measure.
Bush continued to try to drum up U.S. and international support for his hardline policies.
A day after he told the nation Saddam might be plotting to attack the United States with biological and chemical weapons, Bush told a Tennessee audience Tuesday, "The full force and fury of the United States military will be unleashed" should he decide to use force against Iraq.
"And make no mistake about it, we will prevail," Bush said.
Despite Bush's assertion that the Iraqi leader might be planning a chemical or biological attack on U.S. interests, Tenet suggested Baghdad "for now appears to be drawing a line short of conducting terrorist attacks with conventional or chemical or biological weapons."
Should Saddam conclude that a U.S.-led attack against his country could not be deterred, "he probably would become much less constrained in adopting terrorist action," Tenet said in a letter read before a joint hearing of the House and Senate intelligence committees.
Tenet also discussed Iraq privately with a group of senators.
The Bush administration has made the case that going after Saddam is necessary because he has the capability to use weapons of mass destruction and is trying to expand it. The administration also stresses that he has used them in the past.
Tenet provided a slightly different take, suggesting that Saddam's possession of such weapons doesn't necessarily mean he'll use them soon.
Byrd, who has been criticizing the Iraq war resolution daily since the Senate began its debate on the measure last Thursday, told colleagues at a party luncheon that he planned to make full use of Senate rules to try to derail the legislation, participants said.
Byrd, a former majority leader, is widely regarded for his knowledge and skilled use of Senate rules.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., a Democratic sponsor of the resolution, complained about the tactics. "If Sen. Byrd continues to use all the procedural rules the Senate allows him, there's no way we are going to get anything until next week," Lieberman told reporters. "This is too important a matter to frustrate."
Daschle suggested the delaying tactics might only be postponing the inevitable approval of the measure. He said some Democrats would still try to modify the wording to narrow the scope of the resolution.
Daschle suggested a procedural vote scheduled for Thursday essentially to decide whether to stay on the bill or go to something else would be a critical vote that will signal the depth of the resolution's overall support.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, meeting with senators and House members, said the congressional resolution "will definitely strengthen my hand as I try to do the diplomatic work up in New York to get a United Nations Security Council resolution" demanding unimpeded weapons inspections in Iraq.
Powell said there was increasing support at the U.N. for a new inspections mandate. "All of my colleagues at the United Nations and others I've spoken to around the world clearly see the threat," he said.
Also Tuesday:
At the Pentagon, Defense Intelligence Agency official John Yurechko told reporters that Saddam is actively making biological and chemical weapons and trying to hide that fact from the world. He is "taking steps to conceal sensitive equipment and documentation in anticipation of new inspections," Yurechko said.
Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's ambassador to the United States, told a foreign-policy audience in Washington, "As far as Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction are concerned, for the international community inaction is not an option."
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., introduced a bill to offer immigrant visas and permanent U.S. residence to selected Iraqi scientists "in exchange for credible information on Iraq's weapons programs."
Well it seems Lieberman isn't willing to play the Dems political game ..
I'm sure Dubya is quaking in his boots.
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