What They Said

Bob Graham (D-Fla.)

Excerpts from the second day of the Senate debate on the resolution that would grant President Bush authority to use military force against Iraq.

“We all agree that [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein is an evil man in a region of evil men.... The latest White House draft of this resolution attempts to link two challenges to our nation’s security--terrorism and Saddam Hussein. I am not sure that it does so in a coherent or effective way. And frankly, I fear that elevating Saddam Hussein to our nation’s No. 1 enemy poses risks that we have not fully considered.... I am concerned that a war with Saddam Hussein would be waged to the exclusion of--and possible detriment to--the war on terrorism.... A second concern is that, as a consequence of the threat to take unilateral action against Iraq, we have seen a hardening of anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, which puts U.S. persons and interests in that region in greater jeopardy.”

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Jim Bunning (R-Ky.)

“There’s an old saying here in America: ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ I don’t see how we can let Saddam fool us again. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein cannot be trusted. The time for inspections, diplomacy and delay has passed. It is time for us to act.... I believe this resolution takes the right approach and addresses their concerns. It says that we should do all we can to work with our friends and the United Nations to address the menace of Saddam Hussein. But it does not tie our hands and preserves our right to act in self-defense.... I do not believe that in the end you can negotiate with a madman. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to act, and we should pass this resolution to give the president every tool at his disposal to prevail in this struggle with evil.”

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Carl Levin (D-Mich.)

“Whether we commit our forces to attack Iraq as part of a United Nations-authorized coalition, or whether we go it alone, could have immense consequences for our security and for future peace and stability in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East and beyond. That’s why I will be introducing an alternative resolution.... The resolution I will be introducing is consistent with how I think most Americans want us to proceed. It emphasizes the importance of dealing with Iraq on a multilateral basis, and it withholds judgment at this time on the question of whether or not the United States should go it alone.”