Congress has granted President Bush the authority to use all necessary
force against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. I voted against the
resolution -- not because our nation has nothing to fear from Hussein but
because I am convinced that the resolution misstates our national
priorities in a dangerous way.
What is our greatest responsibility? The answer is easy -- securing the
peace and safety of our homeland. Right now the most urgent threats to our
security are posed by the shadowy networks of international terrorist
organizations that have the capabilities to repeat the tragedy of Sept. 11
-- not Saddam Hussein.
At least a half-dozen terrorist organizations that have an avowed
hatred of Americans, including al Qaeda, have proved they have the
materials, the recruited and trained operatives, and the
command-and-control structure to launch a domestic strike. Many of those
bomb throwers are sleeping among us, waiting for the order to assault, as
did the 19 killers who took silent refuge in the sanctuary of the United
States until they struck on Sept. 11, 2001.
More than 3,000 innocent lives later, we learned the bitter lesson of
the power of those who lived dual lives in our communities -- appearing on
the outside to be unexceptional, even as they prepared for the most
unimaginable evil. Those who committed mass murder left behind a much
larger number of terrorists who are continuing with their dual existence
and duplicity. Unfortunately, our ability to tear out these weeds from our
home gardens is limited, because we have given grossly inadequate
attention to understanding the enemy next door.
Both last September and in the State of the Union, the president
declared our top national priority to be the war on terrorism -- including
shutting down terrorist training camps, disrupting terrorist plots and
bringing terrorists to justice. Just last week, on the anniversary of the
commencement of military action in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld recommitted himself to the war on terrorism, citing America's
objective as defeating not only those who use terror, but also those who
house or support them.
The resolution that was passed last week in Congress erroneously
suggests that Saddam Hussein is the ultimate bully in the world, and that
taking him out now and for good is to be our nation's top priority.
Hussein may be the baddest guy in the Middle East, but he is just one of
the bad guys -- and he does not pose an immediate threat to our homeland,
according to a recently declassified assessment from the CIA. Rather, that
report suggests, Hussein might use his chemical and biological weapons in
terrorist strikes on the United States in retaliation for a U.S.-led
attack on Baghdad.
That is why we need an expanded war on terrorism with a strategy for
attacking the leaders of the most deadly terrorist groups at their source
-- just as we have with al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
The State Department has identified 34 international terrorist
organizations. From that list, five plus al Qaeda have a history of
killing Americans, the ability to strike within the United States and the
support of a country that possesses weapons of mass destruction. They are
the Abu Nidal Organization, the Islamic Resistance Movement, known as
Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Palestine Liberation
Front.
Even as we have had impressive successes in Afghanistan, we cannot
declare victory against al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden continues to elude our
forces; al Qaeda operatives have been held in the shootings last week of
two U.S. Marines in Yemen; the FBI continues to round up alleged al Qaeda
conspirators in New York, Oregon and Michigan.
If this were 1938, the course advocated by the president -- and
endorsed in the congressional resolution -- would be the equivalent of the
Allies' declaring war on Mussolini's Italy but ignoring Hitler's Germany.
We are turning our backs on the greater danger, and pretending not to
recognize that an attack on Baghdad could spark the wake-up call to the
terrorists sleeping in our midst.
We cannot protect the homeland by playing defense. We must go on the
offense. The president should come back to Congress and request the
authority to use all necessary force to dismantle the terrorist
organizations capable of striking in America.
There is widespread belief that the president already has this power.
In fact, his authority is limited to those nations, organizations and
persons that can be directly linked to the Sept. 11 conspiracy.
The resolution just passed by Congress allows the sanctuaries of the
next generation of terrorists to remain standing, including the training
camps where, in the 1990s, thousands of zealots were given the skills and
determination to be hardened assassins.
Our national will and our obligation to the security of the American
people -- especially on our native soil -- demand a fuller response to
meet the larger challenge America faces.
The writer is a Democratic senator from Florida and chairman of the
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Editorials
