|
|
|
What Democrats were saying about WMD
"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal,
murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly
grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And
now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his
consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam
Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..." "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to
use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a
deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave
threat to our security." "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop
weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom
line." "If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We
want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction program." "We must stop Saddam from ever again jeopardizing the stability and security
of his neighbors with weapons of mass destruction." "He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times
since 1983." "[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S.
Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air
and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat
posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." "Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass
destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has
made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." "Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass
destruction and palaces for his cronies." "We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat
to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the
United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and th! e means of
delivering them." "We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical
weapons throughout his country." "Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter
and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." "We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing
weapons of mass destruction." "The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are
confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological
weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his
chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that
he is seeking nuclear weapons..." "There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively
to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next
five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the
progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." |