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Congress wants Bush to consult it on Iraq

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

New York Aug. 1. Lawmakers of both parties have made it clear to the White House that they should be consulted in any decision on a military attack against Iraq. In fact, Democrats have introduced legislation in the Senate opposing an attack on Iraq without Congressional authorisation or a formal declaration of war.

The warning from Capitol Hill came as the Senate began its two-day hearings on Iraq at the Foreign Relations Committee with the Democratic Senator, Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, saying that the "administration has not yet made the case". While there is support in Congress for getting rid of the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, lawmakers feel the administration should make a case for the use of hundreds of thousands of troops in a war against Iraq. Some lawmakers also feel that the administration has to make an airtight case of Iraq's direct threat to the United States. The President, George W Bush, has said that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction that could threaten neighbouring countries or might make them available to terrorists who could use the same to strike at the United States. Perhaps a telling comment on the administration's stand on Iraq came from the senior Republican on the Senate Committee, Richard Lugar of Indiana. "If President Bush determines that large-scale military action is necessary against Iraq, I hope he will follow the lead established by the previous Bush administration and seek Congressional authorisation. This is not an action that can be sprung on the American people," he said.

In 1991 prior to the Gulf War, the senior Bush administration went before Congress to seek its authorisation for the use of force. The present Bush administration has maintained that it will consult Congress but has not committed itself to seeking an approval. Lawmakers feel an attack on Iraq involving at least 250,000 American troops is not going to be without high social, political and human costs. The United States is already being criticised by its allies on its war plan. Criticism has particularly been strident from West Asia where not a single ally of the United States has signed on to the plan.

Also, the entire cost of the Iraq invasion will have to be borne by the United States, unlike in 1991, when allies and the U.S. shared the costs. The consensus among experts is that Saddam Hussein has an extensive array of chemical and biological weapons and may even develop a nuclear device by 2005. The former chief U.N. weapons inspector, Richard Butler, told the Senate committee on Wednesday that Iraq had stepped up the production of chemical and biological weapons since U.N. inspections ended four years ago. He said Baghdad may even be close to developing a nuclear bomb, but called for the country to be given another chance before military action is taken.

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