http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/02/05/sprj.irq.powell.us.reax/index.html
Lawmakers hope presentation will sway skeptics
Biden stresses long-term commitment in Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNN) --Leading lawmakers expressed hope Wednesday that Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations will convince skeptical nations that Iraq is defying disarmament resolutions and that they must be willing to confront Saddam Hussein by military force, if necessary.
Powell's presentation won praise from Democrats and Republicans, but some lawmakers stressed that the Bush administration needs to better prepare the American public for the sacrifices and commitment that a war with Iraq would likely involve.
"I think Secretary Powell made a very powerful and, I think, irrefutable case today before the Security Council," Sen. Joseph Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters after the 90-minute-long presentation.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Powell's presentation had unveiled "the true nature" of Saddam's regime.
"The evidence proves that Saddam Hussein has a loaded gun pointed at the civilized world," Hastert said in a statement. "It is time to take that loaded gun away from this evil tyrant."
Biden, D-Delaware, said the evidence confirms what he already knew and believed "for some time now" -- that Saddam is harboring and trying to get more weapons of mass destruction. The senator called on the Security Council now to "live up to its responsibilities" and said that the choice of war or peace was Saddam's.
Biden stressed that President Bush needs to do a better job of preparing the American public for a long-term commitment of U.S. armed forces in Iraq. Many people, Biden said, believe a military strike against Iraq would be "bloodless" and that U.S. troops would return home quickly.
"Johnny will not come marching home. We will be required to stay in-country with tens of
thousands of forces for an extended period of time," Biden said, adding that such an endeavor would cost billions of dollars.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, said the administration had made a "very powerful case" against Iraq and expressed optimism that it would sway world opinion against the regime of Saddam.
"Yup, it should," Lugar said, speaking before Powell's presentation but after a breakfast meeting at the White House, where Bush briefed leading lawmakers.
Talking about European nations, Biden said he hoped Powell's presentation would "embolden leaders who have been reluctant to risk any political capital" to make the case for military action against Iraq.
The White House breakfast meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half, was opened by the president, who then turned the floor over to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, who summarized the case Powell will make at the United Nations.
Many members of Congress, particularly Democrats, have been calling on the administration to make a clearer case that Saddam poses a threat to the United States and the world before the president sends troops in to topple him.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said she is pleased the administration will get "beyond the rhetoric." She said Rice's summary made clear that Powell will "finally give some facts" in the form of a "legal brief."
The members of Congress attending the White House meeting included House and Senate leadership from both parties and chairmen and ranking members of Foreign Relations, Intelligence and Armed Services committees.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-us-iraq-quote-box0205feb05,0,5277587.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines
U.S. Iraq Quotes
By The Associated Press
February 5, 2003, 2:07 PM EST
"The evidence proves that Saddam Hussein has a loaded gun pointed at the civilized world. It is time to take that loaded gun away from this evil tyrant." -- House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
* __
"By going to the United Nations, he (Powell) has made this the world's problem, and not just the problem of the United States of America. The question now is will the Security Council live up to its responsibility." _Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
* __
"For Saddam Hussein's appeasers, no showing of diabolical crimes, documented militarism, and pursuit of mass terror weapons will ever constitute sufficient, so-called 'evidence' to confront his tyrannical regime. For people of common sense, no such additional evidence is needed: terrorists and terror states have to be eliminated." -- House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
* __
"Saddam has ignored repeated warnings from the United States and from the international community that he must disarm or face war. We must now demonstrate to those who would harm us that our warnings are not empty words and that we will act decisively to defend ourselves." -- Rep Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of House International Relations Committee.
* __
Powell's argument "should convince all Security Council members to support a second U.N. resolution authorizing the use of force. ... The the world can see a pattern of deception and concealment on the part of Iraq" and "also gave clear evidence of Iraq's connection with al Qaida." -- Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri, top Democrat on Armed Services Committee.
* __
"People who have seen that evidence and still say, 'I'm still not convinced,' those people are hanging back for political reasons, and not for evidentiary reasons. ... There are some people who don't want to be convinced because they can't politically take the position that the United States is right." -- Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
* __
"After today, no one can deny that Iraq is in material breach of U.N. Resolution 1441. ... We have said all along that if Iraq does not disarm itself, we will do so by force. We now have the proof that Iraq will not do so peacefully."_ Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.
I keep hearing from the Socialists that they are consistently worried about the cost of a war and occupation in Iraq.
First, I would ask them what about the costs of another 9-11 style incident or worse. How many billions has it cost, and continues to cost the private sector, let alone the govt over the WTC disaster.
Second, if the US is going to occupy Iraq for any length of time, Iraq's oil revenues could be used to offset the costs of the conflict. This is commonly called "war reparations" and would be entirely justified.
I find it amazing that the Socialists are worried at all about the cost of anything since they just print more money to cover the debt anyway.