Congressman Benjamin Gilman Warns Iraq

Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (20th District - NY), Chairman Emeritus of the House International Relations Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, in supporting committee passage of H.J. Res. 75, which called Iraq's refusal to comply with United Nation's weapons inspections an act of aggression against the United States and its allies, stated:

"Today Iraqis are suffering under the yoke of a cruel dictator, Saddam Hussein. He is secretly diverting funds from his oil production for an army to terrorize his own people and seeks to terrorize the entire world through his illicit purchases of technology that could be used for weapons of mass destruction. If Saddam was not pressing forward with building weapons of mass destruction and private palaces, and importing luxury goods for the band of thugs that surround him, his people would have more than enough to eat - they would be well off."

"By preventing effective U.N. inspections of his weapons of mass destruction program, Saddam's government is clearly violating the cease fire to which he agreed in 1991. This alone justifies the use of force against him," Gilman asserted. "In addition, his crimes against humanity, his war against Muslim Kuwait, and his genocide against, among others, the Muslims of Iraqi Kurdistan and the Muslim Shia of the South, make him a war criminal."

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