United Nations Resolution 1441
By Robert J. Rutkowski (02/03/03)
"We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression, given what we know of his grandiose plans, given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take the risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond?"
- Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Address on Iraqi Noncompliance to the United Nations, February 5, 2003.
"The Security Council....[decides] that false statements or omissions in the declarations submitted by Iraq pursuant to this resolution and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with, and cooperate fully in the implementation of, this resolution shall constitute a further material breach of Iraq's obligations..."
- Excerpted from United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 on Iraq.
"This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world. In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism, and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances, and by the might of the United States of America."
- President George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 28, 2003
Living in a liberal college town, it is nearly impossible to walk from one end of our Main Street, to the other, without seeing misinformed individual touting rhetoric about why the United States ought not lead a coalition to disarm the Iraqi regime. Each of these dissenters, whose proclamations are protected by statute rather than knowledge, beg the government, even defy the government, to produce the so-called "smoking gun." What do these dissenters want? Perhaps another terrorist attack. Perhaps a chemical weapons attack. Or perhaps the worst imaginable attack: a nuclear weapons attack. These people live in a fantasy world, but, unfortunately, the real world, where we, the majority, reside, is far to complex and dangerous to simply spout nonsensical catchphrases.
The administration, and anyone who cares to follow the issue, knows that it is not a question of if Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction, It is known, through covert intelligence operations, satellite imagery and even from God fearing defectors, that we know, unequivocally, that these weapons exist, and their development, and refinement, continues in earnest. In an address to his parliament last Monday, British Prime Minister, Tony Blair spoke a simple sentence that envelopes the severe consequences of failing to deal, now, with Saddam Hussein. Blair said: "Show weak-ness now and no one will ever believe us when we try to show strength in the future..."
War is not something into which this administration will enter without serious reasons. Critics of the president call him a "cowboy," whose goal is to ride headlong into battle, showing depraved indifference foe the lives that may be lost. The analogy is inane -- based on his Texas upbringing. I was raised in Massachusetts. Does that mean that I am a fisherman? Perhaps, that makes me a Puritan, or even a tax-and-spend liberal. Anyone who knows me, knows that my residential geography does not determine who I am, or what I am.
The dissenters demanded that the president not rush into battle in Iraq. They begged for him to consult the United Nations Security Council. He complied. Presenting a compelling argument to the UNSC, and, thus, UN Resolution 1441 was born. It requires that the Iraqi regime make available all existing weapons of mass destruction, provide proof of the destruction of stockpiled weapons, and to, finally, comply, completely, with UNMOVIC (United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) inspectors. It has failed, and thus, according tot he text of the resolution results in Iraq being in "material breach of the resolution. Period.
This is to say nothing of the previous resolutions Iraq has ignored since the conclusion of the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam Hussein, and his maniacal regime's only hope to survive this process is to comply. The hope for that -- which we all once held -- is likely to be a fool's errand.
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