Next Steps in Iraq Hearings Committee on Foreign
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S. HRG. 107–798 NEXT STEPS IN IRAQ HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 25 AND 26, 2002 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress/senate U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83–463 PDF WASHINGTON : 2002 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:35 Jan 07, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 83463 SFORELA1 PsN: SFORELA1 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware, Chairman PAUL S. SARBANES, Maryland JESSE HELMS, North Carolina CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut RICHARD G. LUGAR, Indiana JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CHUCK HAGEL, Nebraska RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon PAUL D. WELLSTONE, Minnesota BILL FRIST, Tennessee BARBARA BOXER, California LINCOLN D. CHAFEE, Rhode Island ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia BILL NELSON, Florida SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming ANTONY J. BLINKEN, Staff Director PATRICIA A. MCNERNEY, Republican Staff Director (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:35 Jan 07, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 83463 SFORELA1 PsN: SFORELA1 CONTENTS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 Page Holbrooke, Hon. Richard C., former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, counselor, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY .................................. 3 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 Letter to President Bush from Senators Biden and Lugar regarding Iraq, dated September 10, 2002 ................................................................................... 16 McFarlane, Hon. Robert C., former National Security Advisor, chairman, Energy & Communications Solutions, Washington, DC ................................... 12 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 14 USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll, September 23, 2002—Questions on Invading Iraq ........................................................................................................................ 30 THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2002 Albright, Hon. Madeleine K., former Secretary of State, chairman, National Democratic Institute, Washington, DC .............................................................. 52 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 56 Biden, Hon. Joseph R., Jr., U.S. Senator from Delaware, prepared statement . 109 Helms, Hon. Jesse, U.S. Senator from North Carolina, prepared statement ..... 110 ‘‘In Iraq’s Arsenal: Nature’s Deadliest Poison,’’ article by Steve Sternberg, USA Today, September 26, 2002 ........................................................................ 87 Kissinger, Hon. Henry A., former Secretary of State, CEO, Kissinger Associ- ates, Inc., New York, NY ..................................................................................... 58 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 61 Letter to Particia A. McNerney, Republican staff director, from Ryan C. Crocker, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, dated May 29, 2002 .............................................................................................. 74 Powell, Hon. Colin L., Secretary of State, Department of State, Washington, DC .......................................................................................................................... 111 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 118 Response to additional question for the record from Senator Biden ............ 158 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:35 Jan 07, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 83463 SFORELA1 PsN: SFORELA1 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:35 Jan 07, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 83463 SFORELA1 PsN: SFORELA1 NEXT STEPS IN IRAQ WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2002 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:15 p.m., in room SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (chairman of the committee), presiding. Present: Senators Biden, Dodd, Kerry, Feingold, Wellstone, Boxer, Bill Nelson, Rockefeller, Helms, Lugar, Hagel, Chafee, and Brownback. The CHAIRMAN. The hearing will come to order, please. Good afternoon. In late July and early August, this committee held 2 days of hearings on U.S. policy toward Iraq, and our purpose was to begin a national discussion of that policy and to raise some of the difficult questions surrounding any consideration of the next step. We heard from a broad range of expert witnesses, and in the weeks since prominent Americans with decades of experience in foreign policy and national security policy have spoken out, and so has the Bush administration in public statements, in hearings be- fore the Congress, and President Bush’s powerful speech in the United Nations General Assembly. As a result, I believe there is an emerging bipartisan consensus on the basic principles for moving forward on Iraq, and rather than give this entire statement that I have, let me suggest that I am of the view, and speaking for myself, that no matter how well con- ducted, foreign policy cannot be sustained without the informed consent of the American people. I personally am looking forward to the President shortly going to the Nation, as he went to the United Nations, and making the case for what he wishes to do relative to Iraq. He made a compelling case in the United Nations as to why Iraq has violated the United Nations’ own rules, principles, and sanctions, but that is not suffi- cient, in my view, nor do I believe the President believes it is suffi- cient to convince the American people as to what we must do. It is one thing to lay out the threat. But we need a clear, un- equivocal statement of what the U.S. objective is in Iraq. Is it weapons of mass destruction? Is it regime change? Is it return of Bahraini prisoners? What is it? Why has—and I believe I am in- clined to believe it has, but why has the policy of containing Sad- dam failed? What is the urgency? What are the regional consider- ations? What should we be prepared for? What is likely to occur in the mind of the President, and what about—Senator Lugar and I sent an extensive letter to the President prior to his speech before (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 09:35 Jan 07, 2003 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 83463 SFORELA1 PsN: SFORELA1 2 the United Nations asking him to consider, which I am positive he will, what other commitments are we talking about? What about the day after? What responsibility, if any, do we have? What is the President’s vision for what Iraq will look like after Saddam is gone? Are we committing the American people to a sustained commitment to Iraq until there is stability in Iraq? I realize no one can predict exactly how long that would take, but what is the commitment we are making? What are we about to do? And so there are many questions to be answered. I think they all have answers, and I am, for one, anxious to hear the President lay out in some explicit detail what it is he is going to be asking of the American people, and I, for one, believe that, as I have said before, if Saddam Hussein is around 5 years from now, we have a serious problem. The question is, again, what are we asking the American people? What are we about to commit them to, and what latitude and au- thority does the President need to meet those commitments? With that, let me yield, and I might add, tomorrow we are going to be hearing from former Secretaries of State as well as the Sec- retary of State. Unfortunately, two of our witnesses had to cancel. I sincerely thank Mr. McFarlane for responding on such very short notice to be able to be here today, but we will continue this process of trying to discern what it is that we are about to sign on to and, as I said, I know of no policy that can be sustained unless you tell the American people, front end, what it is that we are going to ex- pect of them. And I think they are up to anything, anything we ask of them if we are straight with them and tell them what the poten- tial price may be in order to enhance our security, and we clearly would be more secure without Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction. I would yield to my friend Senator Helms, and I think I am right, Mr. Chairman, that this is your first hearing. You have been here for a markup, but your first hearing since you had to take a little sojourn and get yourself back in shape again, and we are delighted to see you back. Senator HELMS. I am running 60 miles an hour now. The CHAIRMAN. That is about 20 miles an hour faster than I run, and about 40 miles slower than you usually run, and I have no doubt you will be up to 100 in no time. Senator HELMS. If you will believe what I just said, you will be- lieve anything. Of course, we welcome Richard Holbrooke and Mr. McFarlane. We have met with them many times, and they have been many times helpful. The focus of the hearing today, as Joe has said, will be the