Baghdad trip 'right thing to do'
Congressman deflects criticism
sfgate.com
(A Vietnam veteran who was awarded the purple heart. Let his voice be heard along with those who failed to serve our country.)
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau Saturday, October 5, 2002
Washington -- It's been a tumultuous week for Rep. Mike Thompson, the North Bay Democratic congressman who along with two colleagues has drawn fire from conservatives for visiting Iraq while the United States is mulling a war with that nation.
Thompson, a vintner whose district stretches from the wineries of the Napa Valley to the far reaches of the Redwood Empire along the Oregon border, isn't accustomed to the national limelight. And while Thompson -- a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart for his service -- defends his five-day trip to Baghdad and Basra, he also feels he is being tarred for comments by his two traveling companions, Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., and Rep. Jim McDermott, D- Wash.
McDermott, in particular, stirred passions when he appeared by satellite with Bonior last Sunday on "ABC This Week" from Baghdad and laid into President Bush, saying the president might lie to force a war.
"It would not surprise me if they came up with some information that is not provable," he said. "I think the president would mislead the American people."
At the time, Thompson was in another part of Baghdad.
Bush supporters went ballistic, saying the three were "taking the word of a tyrant over the American president," as Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla., put it in comments typical of the heated reaction.
Thompson, 51, who joined McDermott and Bonior at the last minute, said he wanted to tell Iraq it should give U.N. weapons inspectors complete access or face the consequences. He disagreed with McDermott but defended his right to speak out.
"Everybody in our country, unlike in Iraq, is free to speak their mind," said Thompson, a two-term Democrat who is considered a shoo-in for re-election next month.
"I don't agree with what he said, and I wasn't there when he said it," he added.
Like his two fellow House members, Thompson found conditions in Iraq tragic.
They visited a childrens' hospital in Baghdad where patients were dying of leukemia because imported drugs weren't available, and a diarrhea clinic in Basra where children were suffering from the easily preventable water-borne disease because of the lack of repairs to the city's decrepit water system.
They also met with officials administering the U.N. oil-for-food program in which Iraqi oil revenues are supposed to go for food and medical supplies.
Thompson said he came away thinking that Hussein's 11 years of obstruction of the U.N. inspection plan was the primary cause of the suffering.
"Saddam Hussein is a vicious, vicious, cruel human being. . . . People are dying because he won't comply, and it's a shame," he said.
Roll Call, a Washington newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, reported that Democratic leaders were put off by Thompson's visit and could derail his plans to rise through House ranks and one day head the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Thompson, a moderate Democrat, decided Friday that he would oppose the Bush- backed resolution authorizing war against Iraq when it comes to the floor of the House next week. Despite the criticism, he said his trip was the right thing to do.
"I went to get first-hand information to understand the area and help me decide about the resolution," he said. "I also went to deliver a strong message -- that we're done playing games."
E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com. |
