Is It Not True?
Questions On Iraq From A GOP Congressman
Ron Paul is an M.D. and a Republican Member of Congress from Texas
Editor's Note Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul read the following to the House
of Representatives, September 10, 2002.
Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. Here are some
questions I would like answered by those who are urging us to start this war
1. Is it not true that the reason we did not bomb the Soviet Union at the
height of the Cold War was because we knew they could retaliate?
2. Is it not also true that we are willing to bomb Iraq now because we know
it cannot retaliate -- which just confirms that there is no real threat?
3. Is it not true that there are those who argue that even with inspections
we cannot be sure that Hussein might be hiding weapons, and at the same time
imply that we can be more sure that weapons exist in the absence of
inspections?
4. Is it not true that the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency was able
to complete its yearly verification mission to Iraq just this year with Iraqi
cooperation?
5. Is it not true that the intelligence community has been unable to develop
a case tying Iraq to global terrorism at all, much less the attacks on the
United States last year? Does anyone remember that 15 of the 19 hijackers
came from Saudi Arabia and that none came from Iraq?
6. Was former CIA counter-terrorism chief Vincent Cannistraro wrong when he
recently said there is no confirmed evidence of Iraq's links to terrorism?
7. Is it not true that the CIA has concluded there is no evidence that a
Prague meeting between 9/11 hijacker Atta and Iraqi intelligence took place?
8. Is it not true that northern Iraq, where the administration claimed Al
Qaeda were hiding out, is in the control of our "allies," the Kurds?
9. Is it not true that the vast majority of Al Qaeda leaders who escaped
appear to have safely made their way to Pakistan, another of our so-called
allies?
10. Has anyone noticed that Afghanistan is rapidly sinking into total chaos,
with bombings and assassinations becoming daily occurrences; and that
according to a recent U.N. report the Al Qaeda "is, by all accounts, alive
and well and poised to strike again, how, when, and where it chooses?"
11. Why are we taking precious military and intelligence resources away from
tracking down those who did attack the United States -- and who may again
attack the United States -- and using them to invade countries that have not
attacked the United States?
12. Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab world's worst
suspicions about the United States? And isn't this what bin Laden wanted?
13. How can Hussein be compared to Hitler when he has no navy or air force,
and now has an army one-fifth the size of 12 years ago, which even then
proved totally inept at defending the country?
14. Is it not true that the constitutional power to declare war is
exclusively that of the Congress? Should presidents, contrary to the
Constitution, allow Congress to concur only when pressured by public opinion?
Are presidents permitted to rely on the United Nations for permission to go
to war?
15. Are you aware of a Pentagon report studying charges that thousands of
Kurds in one village were gassed by the Iraqis, which found no conclusive
evidence that Iraq was responsible, that Iran occupied the very city
involved, and that evidence indicated the type of gas used was more likely
controlled by Iran not Iraq?
16. Is it not true that anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 U.S. soldiers
have suffered from Persian Gulf War syndrome from the first Gulf War, and
that thousands may have died?
17. Are we prepared for possibly thousands of American casualties in a war
against a country that does not have the capacity to attack the United
States?
18. Are we willing to bear the economic burden of a 100 billion dollar war
against Iraq, with oil prices expected to skyrocket and further rattle an
already shaky American economy? How about an estimated 30 years occupation of
Iraq that some have deemed necessary to "build democracy" there?
19. Iraq's alleged violations of U.N. resolutions are given as reason to
initiate an attack, yet is it not true that hundreds of U.N. resolutions have
been ignored by various countries without penalty?
20. Did former President Bush not cite the U.N. resolution of 1990 as the
reason he could not march into Baghdad, while supporters of a new attack
assert that it is the very reason we can march into Baghdad?
21. Is it not true that, contrary to current claims, the no-fly zones were
set up by Britain and the United States without specific approval from the
United Nations?
22. If we claim membership in the international community and conform to its
rules only when it pleases us, does this not serve to undermine our position,
directing animosity toward us by both friend and foe?
23. How can our declared goal of bringing democracy to Iraq be believable
when we prop up dictators throughout the Middle East and support military
tyrants like Musharaf in Pakistan, who overthrew a democratically elected
president?
24. Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings that revealed the United
States. knowingly supplied chemical and biological materials to Iraq during
the Iran-Iraq war and as late as 1992 -- including after the alleged Iraqi
gas attack on a Kurdish village?
25. Did we not assist Saddam Hussein's rise to power by supporting and
encouraging his invasion of Iran? Is it honest to criticize Saddam now for
his invasion of Iran, which at the time we actively supported?
26. Is it not true that preventive war is synonymous with an act of
aggression, and has never been considered a moral or legitimate U.S. policy?
27. Why do the oil company executives strongly support this war if oil is not
the real reason we plan to take over Iraq?
28. Why is it that those who never wore a uniform and are confident that they
won't have to personally fight this war are more anxious for this war than
our generals?
29. What is the moral argument for attacking a nation that has not initiated
aggression against us, and could not if it wanted?
30. Where does the Constitution grant us permission to wage war for any
reason other than self-defense?
31. Is it not true that a war against Iraq rejects the sentiments of the time-
honored Treaty of Westphalia, nearly 400 years ago, that countries should
never go into another for the purpose of regime change?
32. Is it not true that the more civilized a society is, the less likely
disagreements will be settled by war?
33. Is it not true that since World War II, Congress has not declared war and
-- not coincidentally -- we have not since then had a clear-cut victory?
34. Is it not true that Pakistan, especially through its intelligence
services, was an active supporter and key organizer of the Taliban?
35. Why don't those who want war bring a formal declaration of war resolution
to the floor of Congress?
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