It appears the state Senate will not be joining the Hawaii House and Maine's Legislature in urging President Bush not to attack Iraq without support from the United Nations. Senators unlikely to
echo House on Iraq warThe House approved a resolution opposing
U.S. action without approval by the U.N.By Bruce Dunford
Associated PressInstead, a proposed resolution modified by the Senate's only combat veteran only urges Bush to "pursue diplomacy in his heroic effort to disarm Saddam Hussein." It also offers "full support" of American forces should they go into battle.
Senate Transportation and Military Affairs Committee Chairman Cal Kawamoto, who flew F-4 Phantom jets during the Vietnam War, said he will put his version of the resolution before the committee later.
He said it will be his version or nothing.
The original version, drafted by Sen. J. Kalani English (D, East Maui-Lanai-Molokai) and signed by 17 of the 25 senators, called for no action without U.N. support. It cautioned that unilateral U.S. action could harm the nation's relations with important allies, create more terrorists and upset the unstable Middle East.
On Feb. 4 the Democratic-controlled House approved on a 34-14 party-line vote a resolution condemning unilateral action by the United States in disarming Iraq and North Korea.
Kawamoto repeated the concern he raised last week, when the Senate debated the original version, that Hawaii's Legislature lacks the full information it needs to start second-guessing the president.
"We don't have the military intelligence to make a hard decision to demand" no U.S. action without U.N. support, he said.
During a hearing yesterday, testimony was unanimous in support of returning to the original version of the resolution, although those testifying expressed their support for U.S. military personnel.
"This idea of beginning a war has alienated some of our allies and created a much more unstable situation worldwide," said Dottie Buck, a member of Maui Peace Action. "To act without the United Nations makes the U.S. a rogue nation, not the world leader we imagine ourselves to be."
A war with Iraq would have an impact on Hawaii's tourist industry, said Eric Gill, financial secretary-treasurer of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Local 5.
"The Bush administration has failed to provide any compelling evidence as to why we must go to war with Iraq," he said in written testimony.
"Saddam Hussein does have a track record as a brutal dictator who has attacked his neighbors and his own people, but he is not alone in that category" and presents a lower threat to the United States than some other regimes, Gill said.
Maine's Legislature and the Hawaii House are the highest-ranking elected bodies to pass resolutions urging Bush to await U.N. support before moving against Saddam.
State of Hawaii