Lawmakers support Bush as war looms
With the deadline quickly approaching for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face military action, the congressional delegation from southwestern Pennsylvania already has voiced its support for President Bush’s effort to remove him from power. U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster, whose district includes some of Fayette County, said he supports the president’s decision to enforce the United Nations resolutions, approved by the Security Council, to force Iraq to disarm.
“Saddam Hussein has had 12 years to comply with the resolutions and fully disarm of all weapons of mass destruction. He has chosen instead to follow a path of deceit and deception,” Shuster said. “It is Saddam Hussein who made this action necessary and why we are now presented with the responsibility to ensure his reign of deceit and tyranny ends.”
Shuster said the United States and its allies now will begin to liberate the Iraqi people and remove “the dictator who has oppressed them.
“With our troops engaged to rid the world of this threat, my thoughts and prayers, and the thoughts and prayers of the American people, will be with the brave men and women who will undertake this mission,” he said.
U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter said Saddam Hussein faced the decision either to step aside or face destruction, and he said President Bush “really laid it on the line” by saying the United States does not have to wait to be attacked to respond.
“Saddam is a man who has used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, the Kurds, used them also in the Iran/Iraq war, attacked Kuwait and is conclusively a menace,” he said. “To sit back and let a man with his proclivities and his force do what he wants on his own timetable, I think is inviting attack.
“Al Qaida did not need any special motivation to deal us deadly blows on 9/11,” Specter added.
U.S. Rep. John Murtha, who represents portions of Fayette and Washington counties and all of Greene County, said there is very little chance for more diplomatic moves and very little chance that Saddam Hussein will leave Iraq.
Murtha, who just returned from the Persian Gulf little more than a week ago and spoke with men and women stationed in Kuwait and Qatar, said the troops are well trained and have the best protective devices available.
“I have to believe that in 48 hours, war will begin,” he said. “The people can be assured that Congress will support our troops and furnish whatever is needed for victory in the Gulf.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum said he supports President Bush and believes his most recent decisions are consistent with his efforts to seek a swift, peaceful resolution to Hussein’s global threat.
“The United States is dealing with a true threat to her national security and to the world community, and by remaining idle, we all may potentially bear avoidable and unnecessary consequences,” he said. “Saddam Hussein has remained an oppressive tyrant for more than a decade, and in the search for peace, the president has explored and exhausted all attempts for international peacekeeping. The window for diplomacy is quickly closing.”
He said the Iraqi people deserve the opportunity to embrace democracy, enjoy liberty and take pleasure in the freedom Americans experience.
“Independence and freedom are among our most innate and valued rights, as human beings, regardless of state, country or continent,” Santorum said. “I commend the president for his commitment to encourage this way of life and offer it to all individuals in Iraq.”
Meanwhile, American Legion commander Ronald F. Conley asked all Americans to show support for men and women in uniform by flying the American flag. He said he is convinced President Bush has done everything possible to disarm Iraq peacefully.
“No one wants war. Those of us who have seen the face of war do not want to see such horror again – not for our families and not for the families of others,” Conley said.
“The president has demonstrated patience and resolve in facing the threat of potential terrorist attacks by those armed with weapons of mass destruction. The United States of America must face facts: Some things are worth fighting for, and our freedom and security are paramount.”