Posted on 02/09/2003 11:32:14 AM PST by Chi-townChief
Wednesday was a pivotal day in contemporary American history.
It had fallen to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to set before the United Nations evidence of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's duplicity in the crisis that could bring war within months, or even weeks. We think Powell was impressive in that undertaking.
And now we join the rest of America — and the world — in holding our collective breath to see what happens next.
Powell forcefully argued that Saddam has failed to meet the requirements of United Nations resolutions demanding his full divestiture of biological and chemical weapons capable of killing thousands of people at a time.
And that he continues to pursue a nuclear capability in defiance of United Nations-recognized non-proliferation treaties.
That his past history of horrors against his neighbors, minorities among his own people and political enemies challenging his absolute dictatorial power stamp him as unreliable and a continuing threat to his region, and ultimately to the United States.
That is because he could, and well might, supply such weapons to terrorist organizations or operatives bent on doing Sept. 11-style harm to our country and our people.
While Powell was unable to produce the so-called "smoking gun" sought by some proving Iraq's weapons capabilities, his array of circumstantial evidence backed by photos, intercepted radio messages and intelligence was damning indeed.
The bottom line of Powell's presentation mirrors that of the Bush administration: Saddam Hussein must either come clean immediately with weapons inspectors and truly give up or dismantle the weapons he still has or abdicate his office. In lieu of the above, Hussein and Iraq face "serious consequences."
The next day Bush reiterated in the clearest terms yet that failure to comply would mean war waged by the United States — with or without the support of the United Nations and an international coalition.
The latter for many remains a somewhat uneasy scenario. It would be far more acceptable to go to war if such a coalition existed. Yet can such a coalition be assembled with the head-in-sand bleatings that emanate from some major European capitals?
War should be, and hopefully will be, the last resort. Peace is always desirable. But time for preserving peace is running out. Our military — and those of several other nations — are poised to call Saddam's bluff. Tactical and climactic considerations necessitate a decision to act earlier rather than later. The "smoking gun" should not be a cloud of poison gas hanging over a U.S. city.
The clock is ticking as we move closer to the brink. It's time for Saddam Hussein to blink.
For the past year, the Star editors were writing columns that were very critical of the Bush administration's Iraq policy. Secretary Powell must have really gotten to these boys.
foreverfree
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