Posted on: Friday, October 11, 2002

Hawai'i delegation dissents in Iraq vote

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — With a plea for caution as the United States moved closer to war with Iraq, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie said yesterday there is no credible evidence Iraq poses an immediate threat to national security or is linked to terrorists responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, was in the minority as the House voted to give President Bush the option of using military force if necessary to confront Iraq.

Hours later, Hawai'i's Democrat Sens. Dan Inouye and Daniel Akaka were voices of dissent as the Senate also voted to give the president discretion to use force.

Abercrombie described Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as a tyrant and a dangerous enemy but argued the evidence was not enough to grant President Bush the power to launch a pre-emptive military strike.

"No one needs to convince us of the horror of weapons of mass destruction or the evil of Saddam Hussein," he said. "But does that justify a blank check this resolution gives the president? We have listened to the testimony, read the briefs, and weighed the arguments presented by the administration.

"In my view, they have yet to prove their case."

Abercrombie did not speak on the House floor during a debate over how to contain Iraq, but he inserted a lengthy statement into the Congressional Record and released it to the news media.

The congressman questioned the merits of a pre-emptive attack on Iraq, its impact on U.S. allies and the Muslim world, and its potential strain on U.S. military forces already committed to an international search for terrorists.

"It has always been a point of honor that the United States does not start wars," Abercrombie said. "If we are going to depart from a fundamental principle that has guided U.S. foreign policy for more than 200 years, the evidence of necessity must be iron clad."

President Bush has argued that Iraq has violated diplomatic agreements that ended the Persian Gulf War and is building an arsenal that could threaten security in the Middle East and the rest of the world.