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14 February 2003

Byliner: Senator John McCain on Disarming Iraq

(USA Today 02/14/03 op-ed) (570)
(This column by John McCain, who is a U.S. Senator from Arizona and a
Republican member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, was
published in USA Today February 14. The column is in the public
domain. No republication restrictions.)
(begin byliner)
Delay Can Be Dangerous
By John McCain
Iraq and al-Qaeda present the United States with enemies on multiple
fronts. In World War II, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, we
went to war -- against them and against the Nazis, who had not
attacked our homeland. We did not have the luxury of fighting one
enemy at a time.
Sept. 11, 2001 showed that al-Qaeda is a grave threat. Saddam Hussein
has the ability to make a far worse day of infamy by turning Iraq into
a weapons assembly line for al-Qaeda's network. Does anyone really
want to vouch for Saddam, a pathological risk-taker with a history of
violent aggression and an enormous stockpile of the world's worst
weapons, when terrorists could help him attack us without
fingerprints?
There is no link between the current terror alert and the prospect of
war with Iraq. We were not contemplating war in 1993, 1996, 1998, 2000
and 2001, when we suffered terror attacks at home and abroad. And if
the terrorists attack us because of our plans in Iraq, isn't that
proof that Iraq and the terrorists are two faces of the same danger?
War is horrible. But the past century and 9/11 have taught us that
there are things worse than war: accommodating international criminals
implacably hostile to our interests and values. Failing to act to
prevent another attack could make one inevitable. Standing by while an
odious regime with a history of support for terrorism and hostility to
America develops weapons whose use by terrorists could kill millions
of Americans is not a choice. It is an abdication.
Who would not have attacked al-Qaeda before 9/11 had we known their
plans? Who would not have heeded British Prime Minister Winston
Churchill's call to stand up to Adolf Hitler when Nazi Germany was
still weak and millions of lives could have been saved by acting
first?
It is in the nature of democracies to be patient. But as history has
shown, they can delay to their peril. Placing faith in containing
Saddam today recalls Churchill's admonition in the 1930s about a
collective defense that lacked teeth or will. As Churchill said of the
League of Nations' failure to respond to Italian aggression in
Abyssinia, there is not much collective security in a flock of sheep
on the way to the butcher.
Saddam is like a serial criminal who has stockpiled illegal weapons
and refused to surrender them. He has robbed neighbors' homes and
murdered his own family. If the police responded the way the United
Nations has responded to Saddam, our cities would be overrun with
crime. None of us would be safe. There are other criminals, such as
Osama bin Laden, and we are hunting them down. Nations around the
world have joined our efforts.
Saddam is an international felon who has repeatedly violated the terms
of his parole and is planning further crimes with his terrorist
accomplices. He must be brought to justice once and for all.
(John McCain is a U.S. senator from Arizona and a Republican member of
the Senate Armed Services Committee.)
(end byliner)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)