2002 Ron Paul 85:1
Soon we hope to have hearings on the pending war with Iraq. I am
concerned
there are some questions that won’t be asked- and maybe will not even
be
allowed to be asked. Here are some questions I would like
answered by
those who are urging us to start this war.
2002 Ron Paul 85:2
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:3
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:4
3. Is it not true that those who argue that even with
inspections we cannot be sure that Hussein might be hiding weapons, at
the same time imply that we can be more sure that weapons exist in
the absence of inspections?
2002 Ron Paul 85:5
4. Is it not true that the UN’s International Atomic
Energy Agency was able to complete its yearly verification mission to
Iraq just this year with Iraqi cooperation?
2002 Ron Paul 85:6
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:7
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:8
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:9
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:10
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:11
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 UN report the
al-Qaeda "is, by all accounts, alive and well and poised to strike
again, how, when, and where it chooses"?
2002 Ron Paul 85:12
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:13
12. Would an attack on Iraq not just confirm the Arab
worlds worst suspicions about the US, and isnt this what
bin Laden wanted?
2002 Ron Paul 85:14
13. How can Hussein be
compared to Hitler when he has no navy or air force, and now has an
army 1/5 the size of twelve years ago, which even then proved totally
inept at defending the
country?
2002 Ron Paul 85:15
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 UN
for permission to go to war?
2002 Ron Paul 85:16
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:17
16. Is it not true that anywhere between 100,000 and
300,000 US soldiers have suffered from Persian Gulf War syndrome from
the first Gulf War, and that thousands may have died?
2002 Ron Paul 85:18
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:19
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:20
19. Iraq’s alleged violations of UN resolutions are
given as reason to initiate an attack, yet is it not true that hundreds
of UN Resolutions have been ignored by various countries without
penalty?
2002 Ron Paul 85:21
20. Did former President Bush not cite the UN
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:22
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:23
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:24
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:25
24. Are you familiar with the 1994 Senate Hearings
that revealed the U.S. 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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:26
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:27
26. Is it not true that preventive war is synonymous
with an act of aggression, and has never been considered a moral or
legitimate US policy?
2002 Ron Paul 85:28
27. Why do the oil company executives strongly
support this war if oil is not the real reason we plan to take over
Iraq?
2002 Ron Paul 85:29
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:30
29. What is the moral argument for attacking a nation
that has not initiated aggression against us, and could not if it
wanted?
2002 Ron Paul 85:31
30. Where does the Constitution grant us permission
to wage war for any reason other than self-defense?
2002 Ron Paul 85:32
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:33
32. Is it not true that the more civilized a society
is, the less likely disagreements will be settled by war?
2002 Ron Paul 85:34
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?
2002 Ron Paul 85:35
34. Is it not true that Pakistan, especially through
its intelligence services, was an active supporter and key organizer of
the Taliban?
2002 Ron Paul 85:36
35. Why dont those who want war bring a formal
declaration of war resolution to the
floor of Congress?
This chapter appeared in Ron Pauls Congressional website at http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2002/cr091002.htm