Rudi - this was written by a close friend of my brother-in-law's. He used to be ambassador to Lebanon.
Following opinion article was published February 17 as follows:
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, page A11.
"Years of evidence back need to wield force on Saddam"
By JOHN H. KELLY
On a recent Sunday night, my pastor called me at home to ask about the pending war with Iraq. Since last spring, my cousin, Mary Ann, has answered each piece of writing I have sent her with a query as to why did I not write on Iraq.
I have hesitated because I was undecided. Now the time has come to speak from my conscience. After all, 13 years ago I sat with Saddam Hussein in Baghdad and talked of serious issues. I have devoted much of my life to the Near East. I was assistant secretary of state for the region during the 1990-91 Gulf War. I owe it to my family, friends, pastor and myself to take a stand.
And so, I asked myself, what do we know of Saddam? What is the case against him? We have a more than 20-year record to judge.
• Saddam took power in Iraq at the head of the Revolutionary Command Council and Baath Party in 1979-80. Since then he and his group have ruled Iraq in a totalitarian system, using murder and torture to compel loyalty.
• During that time, Saddam has harbored various terrorist groups, which carried out small but bloody operations. Some of these were against other Arabs and Palestinians. Most were not traceable to Iraq, except that the terrorists were based there. As recently as October, Abu Nidal, a notorious terrorist living in Baghdad, allegedly committed suicide by firing six bullets into his own head. Could it be that his presence was too vivid a link for Saddam's connections with terrorists?
• In 1980, Saddam ordered his army to invade Iran. This began an eight-year war that probably killed 1 million people, counting both sides. Saddam used poison gas against Iranian troops and against Iraqi citizens (including women and children) in Kurdish areas of Northern Iraq.
• In August 1990, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait. The Iraqi troops in Kuwait looted the country and tortured opponents, including cutting out of tongues, mutilation of genitalia, and severing of tendons so as to cripple for life. I have seen the wounds with my own eyes. Saddam took hostage foreign men, women and children to use as human shields.
• When sanctions failed, the United Nations Security Council and the US Congress authorized the use of force to liberate Kuwait. A coalition of 26 nations did so. Prior to fleeing Kuwait, Saddam's troops set fire to the national museum, cultural centers, libraries and more than 600 oil wells to create an ecological disaster.
• Since 1991, Iraq under Saddam has systematically evaded and deceived UN inspectors attempting to verify compliance with UN resolutions compelling Iraq to eliminate its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs, as well as its long-range missiles.
• For five years Saddam refused the UN oil-for-food program, yet complained that sanctions were starving Iraq's children. When the program went into effect, generating billions of dollars, money was diverted to build palaces and covert weapons programs, and to smuggle luxury goods.
• Now, in UN Security Council Resolution 1441, the United Nations has instructed Iraq to comply with its resolutions, divest itself of weapons of mass destruction and cooperate. The UN inspectors have reported twice to the Security Council that Iraq does not fully cooperate. Chief Inspector Hans Blix reported Friday that Iraq has yet to account for anthrax, VX nerve gas and long-range missiles.
Secretary of State Colin Powell briefed the United Nations on Feb. 5 about recent evidence of weapons work and terrorist-related activity.
The evidence in this indictment is overwhelming. The international community is justified in removing this mass murderer, this torturer -- and in removing his regime and its weapons of mass destruction. There is still time for diplomacy to work and a second UN resolution may yet gain support. The best possible outcome would be to have Saddam and his gang leave without a shot being fired. But only the willingness to use force has a chance to make that outcome a reality. And force may be the only solution.
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John H. Kelly is ambassador-in-residence at Georgia Tech's Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. |
