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LoneVoice
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Hmmmm..... try looking at this information:
http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/usandun/03011402.htm
14 January 2003
Arms Inspectors Need More Time in Iraq, Annan Says
U.N. secretary general: Keep the pressure on Iraq
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- Secretary General Kofi Annan said January 14 that U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq are intensifying their work, and the Security Council is letting them proceed, not talking of war at this stage.
"The inspectors are just getting up to full speed. They are now quite operational and able to fly around (the country) and get their work done," Annan said at his first press conference of the year. "We should wait for the update that they will give to the council on the 27th (of January), and what ... further instruction the council gives them."
U.N. weapons inspectors returned to Iraq November 27, 2002 and have been increasingly active as staff and equipment have arrived in the country. There are currently about 100 inspectors and another 50 support staff and 49 air crew members at two main offices in Iraq. To date they have conducted more than 150 inspections at over 125 sites. Plans include adding about 100 more inspectors, another office, and increasing aerial surveillance of suspected weapons sites.
The secretary general said that Iraqi cooperation "is better than what it used to be," but the inspectors want more from Iraq to "fill in the gaps" on its weapons of mass destruction.
...
Nevertheless, the secretary general said, he is "both optimistic and hopeful that if we handle the situation right, and the pressure on the Iraqi leadership is maintained, and the inspectors continue to work as aggressively as they are doing, we may be able to disarm Iraq peacefully and without any resort to war."
http://www.house.gov/georgemiller/rel3603b.html
Here's another example:
Press Release
Congressman George Miller (D-California, 7th District)
Committee on Education and the Workforce, Committee on Resources
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For Immediate Release / Contact: Daniel Weiss
Miller Says President Bush Has Not Yet Proved
That War Against Iraq is Necessary
Thursday, March 6, 2003
WASHINGTON -- Congressman George Miller issued a statement on the House floor Thursday afternoon expressing his strong reservations about President Bushs policy toward Iraq. Miller said that he does not believe the Administration has proven that war against Iraq is necessary to achieve American goals and furthermore he said that he believes that the President has failed to pursue steps that might avert the need for war.
In the House of Representatives
Honorable George Miller of California
The President Still Has Not Made The Case That
War Against Iraq Is Necessary At This Time
Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my grave concern over the Bush Administrations approach toward Iraq. I believe that this Administration is now, and has always been, determined to go to war and that it has never taken all the steps available to avert a war while also achieving its goals toward that country. This Administrations approach ill serves the American people and is dangerous for Americas position in the world.
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein should adhere to the demands of the United Nations Security Council to destroy any weapons of mass destruction, to refrain from further development of such weapons, and to cease and desist from hostilities towards his own people and his neighbors. He has not yet done so.
But the fact is that the United States has never given the United Nations process its full respect. The Presidents national security advisors have said they have intelligence to prove that Iraq is failing to comply with the United Nations resolutions and is deceiving the weapons inspectors, but it has not fully divulged that intelligence to the inspectors.
The President has said that the United Nations must vote to use force because the weapons inspections are not working. And yet he has never advocated for a robust weapons inspection regime. Even though chief weapons inspector Hans Blix is reporting that progress is being made, albeit slowly, the fact is that we could have made even more progress with a tripling of the inspections team and an early insistence on the use of U2 spy plane over-flights.
The President has an obligation to take every step possible short of war before determining whether or not war is necessary. I do not believe that the conclusion today can be reached that war is necessary. I believe that more time can safely be given to weapons inspections without risking a unilateral attack by Iraq against the United States or our allies. I do not believe that the facts indicate that Iraq poses a threat to the security of the United States.
But perhaps just as important, I believe that the weapons inspection regime is keeping Saddam Hussein occupied and that an even more robust weapons inspection regime would cripple any offensive capability he might contemplate.
Mr. Speaker, Americas standing in the world is jeopardized by the Presidents position on Iraq. President Bush has stood by while North Korea becomes a nuclear nation, but he has badgered and bullied nearly every nation in the world to support his position against Iraq, whose military capabilities are far more limited than those of North Korea. The world community has rarely received such bellicose and belligerent treatment as they have from the United States on the issue of Iraq.
The President weakens the international alliance against terrorism and other world threats as he bullies nations to support his march to war. These nations are not admirers of Saddam Hussein, but they are opponents of war when war has not yet been proven to be necessary. And the American people are not admirers of Saddam Hussein. But they too strongly believe that war must be the last resort and only when absolutely necessary and only with international support. This Administration chose war as its first response and has not changed course since.
Mr. Speaker, I would hope that the Administration would strongly consider world opinion that advocates more time for weapons inspections. I would hope that this Administration would strongly consider the harm to Americas standing in the world as it deals with the members of the United Nations. And I would hope that this Administration would remember that America is a peaceful nation, it is a just nation, and a strong nation. America is not, and should never become, a nation that is proud to go to war.
Should it be determined that war indeed is necessary, I have every confidence that the armed forces of this country will perform their responsibility with strength and character. I have always admired the men and women who choose to serve in the armed forces. I admire them for their hard work, their sense of duty to our country, and their sense of responsibility. But it is because of their character and sense of duty to our nation that we owe it to them and their families for our government to exhaust every alternative to war before those men and women are put in harms way.
The measure of the strength of a nation is its ability to show appropriate restraint just as much as it is its ability to protect itself and its allies. Mr. Speaker, millions of Americans and people throughout the world support allowing more time for weapons inspections. I believe they are right and I believe our nation will be well served to allow more time for a rigorous inspections program.
Thank you.
