Inouye wants
proof that Iraq has
chemical weapons

He says the U.S. will lose
credibility if it can't prove the
claim that spurred the war

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By Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin.com

The United States had better find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq soon, or it may lose credibility globally, warns U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

"I get up every morning, as I did this morning, turn on television, hoping that the announcer would say, 'We have located a weapon of mass destruction.' Because the longer it takes, and if we don't do it, we'll have lot of explaining to do," Inouye, a Democrat, told the state House Committee on War Preparedness at a meeting yesterday at the state Capitol.

The Bush administration justified launching a war against Iraq by claiming the regime of Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in violation of U.N. resolutions.

"If we went there because of an evil, unquestionably evil, person ... and it was in the behalf of mankind that we're going to get rid of him, you know, that definition can be used elsewhere," Inouye said. "I hope we're not using that definition for Syria."

Inouye, 78, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his efforts with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II, spoke candidly about his thoughts on Operation Iraqi Freedom and the work of the preparedness committee.

He called this war unusual because of the extensive TV coverage provided through embedded journalists. While the major battles are over, he said it is unwise to consider this war on terrorism over.

Inouye added this is an unpopular war in the eyes of the world community, and this country should reflect on why allies such as Germany, Russia and France refused to participate in unseating Saddam.

"The worst decision we can make is to try to reconstruct, restore and establish a government in Iraq all by ourselves. We would be condemned for a long time to come. The world community has to come in, and this is when we can get help," Inouye said.

Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke, House vice speaker, said yesterday it was refreshing to have people of Inouye's caliber speak out to reaffirm U.S. support for its allies.

"The war continues to loom over the United States, and the next thing that we really need to think about, and need to be concerned about, is the war on terrorism," said Luke (D, Dowsett Highlands-Punchbowl).

"To combat that, we're going to need everybody. We're going to need all the allies," she said.

Inouye emphasized the war in Iraq is relatively small on a global scale, but it took a substantial amount of U.S. military personnel, equipment, ships and aircraft to get it done.

As a result, Inouye said he believes the United States -- although it has a highly skilled and dedicated military force -- would have difficulty fighting a major world war because of its military's relatively small size. The U.S. military is comprised of less than half of 1 percent of the country's population of 281.4 million, he said.

"I say this so that we would not get too arrogant. There's always this tendency once you've won a major battle, your muscle gets bigger.

"I think it would be wrong for America to flex its muscle, because our muscle is rather limited," he said.

Inouye praised Luke's committee for its work and supported its recommendations. Still, he encouraged its members to also tackle a smaller but related issue: Oahu traffic.

He said the time island motorists spend in traffic jams amounts to millions of lost dollars in productivity, and the committee should find a way to encourage more carpooling.

"I'm not proud to say we've got one of the worst traffic jams in the United States," he said. "What if there is an emergency here and traffic doesn't move? You know, you can imagine thousands of lives being changed just because of that massive traffic jam."