Congress OKs war WASHINGTON >> President Bush now has the overwhelming approval of Congress to use force against Iraq. But the drive for U.N. approval is meeting stiff resistance from France.
Both of Hawaii's Democratic
Lawmakers urge caution on Iraq
senators oppose the measure
Staff and news reports
After days of debate, the House and Senate passed and sent to the White House yesterday a resolution authorizing the president to use military force, if necessary, to compel Iraq to get rid of its biological and chemical weapons and disband its nuclear weapons program.
Hawaii's Democratic senators, Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye, voted against the resolution. Earlier in the day, Hawaii Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie also voted no.
Because the Senate approved the House-passed measure without changes, it now goes directly to Bush for his signature.
"The days of Iraq acting as an outlaw state are coming to an end," Bush said.
But at the United Nations, even an offer to compromise failed to win France's support for a tough Security Council resolution proposed jointly by the United States and Britain.
Responding to the reluctance of France and Russia to have the Council approve war with Iraq, U.S. diplomats offered to remove from the resolution a threat to use "all necessary means" to compel Iraq to disarm, a U.S. official said today.
The resolution simply would threaten consequences, but not call for an automatic, forceful response. Still, the United States would be able to interpret "consequences" as meaning force, said the official.
In southern Iraq today, U.S. warplanes bombed a mobile surface-to-air missile launcher near Tallil, about 160 miles southeast of Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command headquarters said. It was the latest in a long string of U.S. attacks that Central Command says are in response to Iraqi provocations in the "no fly" zones patrolled by American and British aircraft.
France continues to insist on two resolutions. The first would authorize new international weapons inspections of suspect sites in Iraq. Any consideration of using force would depend on the result of the searches and require further debate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said today he believed the Security Council could reach common ground on Iraq and did not rule out Moscow's agreeing to a U.N. resolution on the return of weapons inspectors.
"We don't exclude the possibility of reaching some coordinated decision in the shape of a U.N. Security Council resolution," Putin said after meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The president, who has stressed that he has made no decision on launching a military strike against Baghdad, prevailed despite lingering Democratic concerns.
"The Congress has spoken clearly to the international community and the United Nations Security Council," Bush said today. "Saddam Hussein and his outlaw regime pose a grave threat to the region, the world and the United States. Inaction is not an option, disarmament is a must."
The House approved the resolution by 296-133. The Senate vote was 77-23.
The resolution emphasizes the need to work with the United Nations and exhaust diplomatic measures before resorting to force but allows the president to act with or without the United Nations.
Bush, after the House vote, said it "sends a clear message to the Iraqi regime: It must disarm and comply with all U.N. resolutions or it will be forced to comply."
Bush is pressing the U.N. Security Council to adopt a new resolution requiring Iraq to submit to unconditional inspections and disarm or face retaliation.
Akaka had said earlier that he would back the resolution only if two conditions were met: that the United States exhaust all possible means short of war to enforce U.N. resolutions concerning Iraq, and that any attack against Iraq occur as part of an international coalition.
"Constituent opinion in my home state is running strongly against any authorization of the use of force against Iraq," Akaka said. "Before the United States wages war against Iraq, President Bush and the Congress owe it to the young Americans who face death or injury in that conflict to ensure that every effort has been made to obtain our ends without endangering them. Remember, in the first Persian Gulf War, it was our allies who paid for the war," he said.
House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt, who helped negotiate the language of the resolution with the White House, urged the president not to rush to war. "Completely bypassing the U.N. would set a dangerous precedent that would undoubtedly be used by other countries in the future to our and the world's detriment," he said.
Gephardt added that the resolution was "not an endorsement or acceptance of President Bush's new policy of pre-emption," or striking another nation because of a perceived threat to U.S. security.
Of 208 House Democrats, 126 voted against the resolution, and this significant number "does send a message that the support for this war is not what the administration asked for," said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas.
In the Senate, 21 of the 50 Democrats voted against the measure. Vermont independent Sen. James Jeffords also opposed the measure.
Senate action on the resolution was slowed by Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va. "Let us not give this president, or any power, unchecked power," he said.
But his resistance was undercut yesterday when the Senate voted 75-25 to stop Byrd's delaying tactics and move the measure toward a final vote. At about the same time, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he was supporting the resolution.
"I believe it is important for America to speak with one voice," said Daschle.
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WASHINGTON >> Shortly after Congress entrusted President Bush with broad powers to use military force to curtail the threat from Saddam Hussein's Iraq, lawmakers appealed to Bush to exhaust diplomatic efforts first. Lawmakers urge
caution on Iraq
By Jim Abrams
Associated Press"The overwhelming consensus," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said today, is that the president "ought to be very careful about the deployment of military personnel and weaponry."
Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., said, "The United States must lead the diplomatic high ground and use a multilateral approach to disarmament with the support of friends and allies."
Both voted for the resolution, which Bush is to sign at a White House event Wednesday.
The measure won House approval, 296-133, yesterday, and Senate passage, 77-23, today.
The congressional resolution gives the president authority to deal with the ongoing threats from Iraq created by its disregard of past U.N. resolutions.
The backing of Congress fortified Bush in his effort to win U.N. Security Council approval of a resolution compelling Iraq to submit to unconditional weapons inspections and disarm or face the consequences. The United States and Britain are trying to convince China, France and Russia of the need for such a resolution.
The bill Congress passed requires Bush to notify Congress, before or within 48 hours after an attack on Iraq, that further diplomatic efforts would not have protected U.S. national security, and to explain to Congress how the military action will not hurt the war on terrorism. It gives the president authority to take action irrespective of U.N. activities.
Only six House Republicans and one senator, Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, voted against the measure. But Democrats were less supportive, with 126 of 208 House Democrats and 21 of 50 in the Senate voting no.
