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Below are a few excerpts from: Senate Foreign Relations Committee, confirmation hearing for Secretary of State designate Colin Powell, chaired by Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE), 17 January 2001 Here Powell suggests that the U.S. and UK are alone on their Iraq policy; maintains that the U.S. will "re-energize the sanctions regime"; and contends that sanctions are sometimes "self-defeating," may demonstrate American "arrogance," and can be "hypocritical." [NH: Bear in mind that the preceding question from Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), a well-known opponent of U.S. unilateral sanctions on Cuba, addressed U.S. unilateral narcotics "certification" for [primarily Latin American] countries and that Powell probably means unilateral U.S. sanctions] For the complete testimony (as an MS Word document the testimony covers approximately 130 pages), contact Nathaniel Hurd at nhurd@email.com [begin] ********* As I say, Iraq, at that time [NH: the Gulf War] we had a coalition of dozens of nations that fought that war and brought it to a successful conclusion. And today, America stands alone in that theater, containing Saddam Hussein, together with Great Britain and several allies in the Gulf operations using naval vessels, but basically we're alone. ********* And when we look at that whole troubled region, Mr. Chairman, there is no more tragic case than Iraq, a failed state with a failed leader. It is sad to consider what could be, what should be, if only Iraq would use its resources and its talented people for constructive purposes. This is the 10th year anniversary of the beginning of Desert Storm, a war we wish we didn't have to fight. We wish the Iraqi leaders and their people had come to their senses back then and not caused this conflict to happen. But it did happen. And we went into that war with clear political objectives and those objectives were to kick the Iraqi army out of Kuwait, and they are gone and the legitimate government has been restored. Unfortunately, Saddam Hussein is still in power. But what a mess he has made of his nation over the past 10 years while the rest of the world has moved on. While we have seen our economy flourish, while we bring up a new generation of youngsters ready for the Internet age, he sits there trapped in the past. Instead of seeking peace and prosperity for his people, we see a weakened Iraq that utters threats and pursues horrible weapons to terrorize its neighbors. We have seen what they will do and have done in the past in Teheran. We have seen it in Kuwait City, especially to the children of Kuwait. We must not forget how Iraq treated those innocent children. And we saw some of the effects of that treatment on our television screens. The president-elect has made it clear that we will work with our allies to reenergize the sanctions regime. Critics will say that tightened sanctions mean more harm to the people of Iraq, especially the children. No one cares for children more than I do. And I understand that a nuclear, biological or chemical weapon of a Saddam Hussein threatens not only the children of Iraq but the entire region far more than tightened sanctions, whose ultimate goal is not to hurt Iraq, but to prevent them from having such terrible weapons in their arsenal. We need to be vigilant, ready to respond to provocations and utterly steadfast in our policy toward Saddam Hussein. And we need to be supportive of opposition efforts. The burden is not on us or the United Nations. The burden has to be placed on Iraq to come into compliance with the agreement they made at the end of the Gulf War. We owe this to its neighbors and we owe this to its neighbors' children, that they are no longer threatened, that Iraq is ready to live in the world and not apart from it. And until Iraq makes that decision and lives by it, we will remain resolute. ********* All certifications and sanction regimes have a noble purpose from their origins. That's why we have them. They're trying to change behavior and change behavior in the right way. But there are occasions where it becomes self-defeating and where it shows a degree of American hubris and arrogance that may not, at the end of the day, serve our interest all that well, particularly when we end up waiving it all the time. It becomes a little hypocritical, to be frank. ********* [end] ----------------------------------------------- FREE! The World's Best Email Address @email.com Reserve your name now at http://www.email.com -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This is a discussion list run by the Campaign Against Sanctions on Iraq For removal from list, email soc-casi-discuss-request@lists.cam.ac.uk Full details of CASI's various lists can be found on the CASI website: http://www.casi.org.uk