— unpredictable thoughts

FOUR YEARS AGO : Senator Robert Byrd

I picked this up a few days ago and read it again.
No words can express my sor­row and frus­tra­tion. The loss of human life, destruc­tion of Iraq and global instability.

Speech deliv­ered on the floor of the US Sen­ate
by US Sen­a­tor Robert Byrd
March 19, 2003 3:45pm

I believe in this beau­ti­ful coun­try. I have stud­ied its roots and glo­ried in the wis­dom of its mag­nif­i­cent Con­sti­tu­tion. I have mar­veled at the wis­dom of its founders and framers. Gen­er­a­tion after gen­er­a­tion of Amer­i­cans has under­stood the lofty ideals that under­lie our great Repub­lic. I have been inspired by the story of their sac­ri­fice and their strength.

But, today I weep for my coun­try. I have watched the events of recent months with a heavy, heavy heart. No more is the image of Amer­ica one of strong, yet benev­o­lent peace­keeper. The image of Amer­ica has changed. Around the globe, our friends mis­trust us, our word is dis­puted, our inten­tions are questioned.

Instead of rea­son­ing with those with whom we dis­agree, we demand obe­di­ence or threaten recrim­i­na­tion. Instead of iso­lat­ing Sad­dam Hus­sein, we seem to have iso­lated our­selves. We pro­claim a new doc­trine of pre­emp­tion which is under­stood by few and feared by many. We say that the United States has the right to turn its fire­power on any cor­ner of the globe which might be sus­pect in the war on ter­ror­ism. We assert that right with­out the sanc­tion of any inter­na­tional body. As a result, the world has become a much more dan­ger­ous place.

We flaunt our super­power sta­tus with arro­gance. We treat UN Secu­rity Coun­cil mem­bers like ingrates who offend our princely dig­nity by lift­ing their heads from the car­pet. Valu­able alliances are split.

After war has ended, the United States will have to rebuild much more than the coun­try of Iraq. We will have to rebuild America’s image around the globe.

The case this Admin­is­tra­tion tries to make to jus­tify its fix­a­tion with war is tainted by charges of fal­si­fied doc­u­ments and cir­cum­stan­tial evi­dence. We can­not con­vince the world of the neces­sity of this war for one sim­ple rea­son. This is a war of choice.

There is no cred­i­ble infor­ma­tion to con­nect Sad­dam Hus­sein to 9/11. The twin tow­ers fell because a world-wide ter­ror­ist group, Al Qaeda, with cells in over 60 nations, struck at our wealth and our influ­ence by turn­ing our own planes into mis­siles, one of which would likely have slammed into the dome of this beau­ti­ful Capi­tol except for the brave sac­ri­fice of the pas­sen­gers on board.

The bru­tal­ity seen on Sep­tem­ber 11th and in other ter­ror­ist attacks we have wit­nessed around the globe are the vio­lent and des­per­ate efforts by extrem­ists to stop the daily encroach­ment of west­ern val­ues upon their cul­tures. That is what we fight. It is a force not con­fined to bor­ders. It is a shad­owy entity with many faces, many names, and many addresses.

But, this Admin­is­tra­tion has directed all of the anger, fear, and grief which emerged from the ashes of the twin tow­ers and the twisted metal of the Pen­ta­gon towards a tan­gi­ble vil­lain, one we can see and hate and attack. And vil­lain he is. But, he is the wrong vil­lain. And this is the wrong war. If we attack Sad­dam Hus­sein, we will prob­a­bly drive him from power. But, the zeal of our friends to assist our global war on ter­ror­ism may have already taken flight.

The gen­eral unease sur­round­ing this war is not just due to “orange alert.” There is a per­va­sive sense of rush and risk and too many ques­tions unan­swered. How long will we be in Iraq? What will be the cost? What is the ulti­mate mis­sion? How great is the dan­ger at home?

A pall has fallen over the Sen­ate Cham­ber. We avoid our solemn duty to debate the one topic on the minds of all Amer­i­cans, even while scores of thou­sands of our sons and daugh­ters faith­fully do their duty in Iraq.

What is hap­pen­ing to this coun­try? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends? When did we decide to risk under­min­ing inter­na­tional order by adopt­ing a rad­i­cal and doc­tri­naire approach to using our awe­some mil­i­tary might? How can we aban­don diplo­matic efforts when the tur­moil in the world cries out for diplomacy?

Why can this Pres­i­dent not seem to see that America’s true power lies not in its will to intim­i­date, but in its abil­ity to inspire?

War appears inevitable. But, I con­tinue to hope that the cloud will lift. Per­haps Sad­dam will yet turn tail and run. Per­haps rea­son will some­how still pre­vail. I along with mil­lions of Amer­i­cans will pray for the safety of our troops, for the inno­cent civil­ians in Iraq, and for the secu­rity of our home­land. May God con­tinue to bless the United States of Amer­ica in the trou­bled days ahead, and may we some­how recap­ture the vision which for the present eludes us.