PRE-WAR INTELLIGENCE
Mr. STEVENS. Madam President, I am deeply disturbed by what I believe is an attempt to write a revisionist history of our involvement in Iraq and our pre-war intelligence.
Since 1981, I have served as the Chairman or Ranking Member of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. As one who has watched over the Defense Department's Appropriations, I was impressed with President Clinton's position on Iraq. The President and his top advisers--Vice President Gore, Secretary of State Albright, National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, and others--consistently made the case we should take seriously the threat Iraq and its weapons, program posed.
I have come to the floor twice in the past to submit President Clinton's February 1998 Pentagon speech into the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD. Before giving his speech, President Clinton was briefed by the generals who command all of our forces. Their briefing convinced President Clinton that he might have to take military action against Saddam Hussein, and he told the generals to be ready.
Those of us in Congress never doubted President Clinton's sincerity or truthfulness regarding this issue. In 1998, he said:
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.
Vice President Al Gore echoed this concern. He said:
Saddam's ability to produce and deliver weapons of mass destruction poses a grave threat ..... to the security of the world.
Secretary of State Madeline Albright told us:
Iraq is a long way from here, but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.
And National Security Adviser Sandy Berger warned:
He (Saddam Hussein) will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has 10 times since 1983.
Many Members of the Senate agreed the threat was real and imminent. In 2002, Senator KENNEDY said:
We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction.
Senator ROCKEFELLER warned:
Saddam's existing biological and chemical weapons capabilities pose real threats to America, today, tomorrow.
And Senator KERRY said:
These weapons pose an unacceptable threat.
In October 2002, the Senate overwhelmingly supported giving President Bush the authority to use force in Iraq. We authorized the use of force in a vote of 77 to 23. The facts before us indicated Saddam Hussein posed a grave threat.
Let me be clear: At the time, the facts were undisputed and we were all provided the same information. These were the facts as we understood them. Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction against the Iranians, his own people and possibly some of our men and women in uniform during the first gulf war.
In 1998, the weapons inspectors were forced out of Iraq. When the inspectors left, the regime was capable of resuming bacterial warfare agent production within weeks. Iraq had not accounted for hundreds of tons of chemical precursors and tens of thousands of unfilled munitions canisters. Iraq had not accounted for at least 15,000 artillery rockets previously used for delivery of nerve agents or 500 artillery shells filled with mustard gas.
Saddam Hussein had been ordered by the U.N. to disarm 16 times, and 16 times he refused to comply. He engaged in a series of deceitful tactics designed to prevent U.N. inspectors from completing their inspections.
Our intelligence agencies gathered further evidence of his activities. This information was classified to protect our sources and methods. I received those intelligence briefings. I believe I received the same information as President Clinton. These intelligence reports were deeply disturbing, and phase I of the Intelligence Committee's investigations found this information was not coerced or influenced in any way. It was our intelligence agency's best assessment of what was going on in Iraq at the time. Had the President received those briefings and failed to act, he would have been negligent in his duty to keep Americans safe. Those in the Senate who voted for the resolution believed this, which is why we authorized the use of force.
I am now disturbed by the way some are twisting this history to suit their own political agendas. Why is anyone calling the people of this administration liars when the speaker shared their position? In many cases, those who accuse the administration of deception previously had made the case even more strongly than President Bush.
The Senate Intelligence Committee spent 2 years putting together a bipartisan report on our prewar intelligence. Their report found there were no attempts to influence analysts or no evidence that administration officials attempted to coerce, influence, or pressure an analyst to change his or her judgment--not once.
Every member of the Intelligence Committee, Republican and Democrat, approved that report. The Silverman-Robb report and six other major studies found there is no basis for the claim that the administration lied to get us to go to war.
The search for weapons of mass destruction will not be completed on our timetable. Look at this picture: The Iraqis buried entire planes in the desert. We have two photographs of planes being unearthed, full planes buried beneath the sand. When we pulled them out, they were still operable.
Our troops found 30 of these planes buried in the sands of the Al-Taqqadum airfield west of Baghdad--30 planes. That is one-tenth of their entire combat Air Force. If Saddam Hussein's troops had buried one-tenth of their combat aircraft in the desert, who is to say there were no weapons of mass destruction similarly buried? Just because they were not found does not mean they were never there. The Nation of Iraq is the size of California. The materials needed to make weapons of mass destruction could fit in a container the size of a family bathtub. Weapons of mass destruction are no bigger than a family bathtub.
We now stand at a critical moment in history. I believe we must reflect on events leading to the war, but this process is only useful if it is honest and accurate. Those who are trying to rewrite history, revisionist history of these events are simply advancing their own political agendas. They are not advancing the important work due now in the region--and do so on a bipartisan basis.
I agree with the Senator from Virginia, Mr. Warner, the chairman of the Committee on Armed Services. A flexible timetable for troop withdrawal could jeopardize our men and women in uniform and their mission. The only way we can lose in Iraq is if we defeat ourselves, if we refuse to stay the course. The path to progress is slow and steady. It has milestones, but it does not have timelines. We must remain behind our troops.
Over 200 years ago, our Founding Fathers began the great American experiment. They set out to create a government defined by its commitment to liberty and freedom. Iraq is one of this century's proving grounds for those ideals. Our men and women in uniform, all volunteers, are helping the people of Iraq and Afghanistan build their emerging democracies. Their sacrifices ensure, in the words of Abraham Lincoln, ``that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this Earth.''
Distorting our prewar intelligence will not help them complete their mission. We must support the important work they are doing in Iraq, not send mixed messages. The men and women in uniform were asked to go to Iraq to help Iraq become a democracy dedicated to freedom. They are doing that. I will continue to support those and stay the course and support Iraq's efforts to stand up their own forces so they can defend that freedom.
I yield the floor.
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