(New York Times) - President Bush asked Congress Thursday for sweeping authority to use "all means he determines to be appropriate, including force" to disarm Iraq and dislodge Saddam Hussein, and warned: "If the United Nations Security Council won't deal with the problem, the United States and some of our friends will." He cited Congress's own 1998 declaration that American policy should be to remove the Iraqi leadership and promote democracy in its place. Testifying before Congress, Secretary of State Powell said Iraq was already in "material breach" of a long string of UN resolutions, while Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the current inspection system has fewer teeth than the one in place immediately after the Gulf War. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iraqi commanders who used chemical or biological weapons would be hunted down and tried by war crimes tribunals.
2002-09-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive