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Bay Area representatives do what they can to stop 'rush to war'
Most question need and timing of push for attack on Iraq
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Friday, September 27, 2002
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle.
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?
file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/27/MN241714.DTL
Washington -- One Bay Area member of the House of Representatives is off to Baghdad,
trying to convince Iraq to allow complete access for U.N. weapons inspectors. Another
has
written her colleagues, asking them to delay a vote on a possible war against Saddam
Hussein. A third has started hosting Capitol Hill teach-ins on alternatives to war.
President Bush said Thursday that agreement is near with Republican and Democratic
congressional leaders on the wording of a resolution authorizing the use of force
against
Iraq. If such bipartisan accord is reached, the resolution is expected to move quickly
through Congress.
Despite that, the Bay Area's all-Democratic delegation is playing an increasingly
active role
in questioning the president's determination to force Congress to act quickly.
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, left Thursday for a visit to Baghdad to persuade the
Iraqis to avoid war by "allowing immediate and unfettered access to U.N. weapons
inspectors." Thompson also said he wants to see things for himself, because he remains
unconvinced that the Bush-backed resolution for military action against Iraq is needed.
"The classified briefings Congress has been presented to date have fallen short of
bridging
the current chasm between a rush to war and evidence of an immediate threat," he said.
Thompson, who is accompanying two other Democratic House members on the trip, plans
to meet with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and tour food distribution
facilities, a
hospital and a water filtration plant.
The North Bay congressman's trip is not being paid for by taxpayers. Instead, an
interfaith
church group from Seattle and a charity that administers aid to Iraq are paying.
Thompson's small group won't be the first from Congress to try direct contact with
Hussein's regime. Last week, Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., went to Baghdad but reported
frustration in trying to get his message across. A planned speech to the Iraqi national
assembly was canceled, cameras and tape recorders were confiscated, and contact with
Iraqi officials was limited.
While Thompson has expressed misgivings about what kind of threat Hussein poses, Rep.
Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek, is much more hawkish about the need to oust the Iraqi
dictator. However, she joined on Wednesday with one of the House's leading doves, Rep.
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to send a letter to all their colleagues.
With partisan finger-pointing breaking out between the White House and Senate Majority
Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., Tauscher and Kucinich said war is too important a matter to
become an election season issue. They said no vote should be taken until after the
Nov. 5
election.
"The Congress that will face the consequences of war in Iraq should be the one to make
this decision and take this vote," they wrote.
"It's not in the best interests of our nation, nor is it in the best interest of
either party, for us
to challenge each other's patriotism or our devotion to duty," they added.
One member who leaves no doubt about her position is Rep. Barbara Lee, D- Oakland, who
opposes an attack on Iraq. Her office has become the host for Capitol Hill teach-ins
about
alternatives to war.
The first guest speaker was David Cortright, a peace studies expert from the
University of
Notre Dame.
"Even if I accepted many of the worst-case scenarios presented by the administration,
there
are practical alternatives," he said, outlining a program calling for renewed
inspections,
strengthened military containment of Hussein's forces and support for "people power"
democratic change in Iraq.
Some of the peace activists who attended Lee's program challenged Cortright for
accepting
even part of the president's argument -- that Hussein is unusually repressive or that
he is
still trying to build chemical or biological weapons.
Cortright said some action against Hussein is needed. "Iraq is the most brutal regime
in the
world today," he said. "While the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is
exaggerated, it is still there."
E-mail Edward Epstein at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
©2002 San Francisco Chronicle. Page A - 20
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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