The American Pharoah urges war on Iraq!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2003

ROCKEFELLER REACTS TO SECRETARY POWELL’S SPEECH BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL

WASHINGTON, DC – The following is Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV’s reaction after listening to the speech given by Secretary of State Colin Powell today in front of the United Nations Security Council.

"Secretary Powell has made the strongest case to date as to why Saddam Hussein poses a serious and present threat to the United States and the world. The UN decided last Fall to give Saddam Hussein one last chance. And, the world can have no doubt today that Saddam Hussein is in material breach of the UN resolutions. Not only has he failed to disarm, Saddam Hussein is actively engaged in building weapons of mass destruction.

"The tough question is what we do about a threat like this. This question is one of the toughest the U.S. and the world have faced since the end of the Cold War.

"I voted for the use of force last fall in order to give diplomacy a chance to work. And at the end of the day, the threat of force has to be real.

"There are enormous risks either way. But, faced with such a dangerous dictator who is building deadly weapons in defiance of international law, the price of inaction may simply be too great to bear. The threat we face is not only from Iraq and Saddam Hussein. It is the near-certainty that weapons of mass destruction like these will spread to other rogue states and terrorists if we don’t stem the tide. At some point, we must send dictators and terrorists the message that the world will not allow chemical, biological and nuclear weapons to threaten mankind.

"President Bush unquestionably has the authority to act. If and when he decides to do so, the American people will stand behind him as our Commander in Chief, and so will I. But he must also act to minimize the risks.

"The president must build a strong coalition of nations. The U.S. cannot go it alone. We must work to win support from as many countries as possible, and we should allow inspections to continue while we pursue a final resolution from the UN Security Council before taking military action.

"The president must stay focused on the larger fight against terrorism. We know that military action against Iraq will raise the threat of terrorist retaliation in our homeland, and we must remain vigilant against this even more pressing threat."

Rockefeller is the Vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.