off topic: a letter from Jay Inslee to Washington citizens on his vote

[Guest guest]

Dear Ms. Sun:

Thank you for contacting me in opposition to the resolution to authorize the President to take military action against Iraq. I appreciate hearing from you about this important decision. The authorization of military force is indeed one of the most important duties that members of Congress must fulfill as the directly elected representatives of the American people.

This week, members of Congress debated and voted on a resolution that will give the President of the United States the authority to start a unilateral, ill-timed war with another nation. I voted against this resolution. This vote was more than just an issue of dealing with a dangerous regime; it was a vote that will fundamentally change the nature of this nation's foreign and domestic policy future, adopting a first strike policy in the face of international opposition.

Since the Second World War, our nation, and indeed the rest of the world, has d to the vision of protection by international law and collective security. The President's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, recognized these foreign policy truths, and sought, with great success, international coalitions to deal with regional problems, most notably Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Unfortunately, this administration's announced intention is to obtain the authority from Congress to start a war on its own, at anytime, for virtually any reason, and with or without our allies. This I oppose.

It would be difficult to find a voice in Congress that didn't acknowledge that Saddam Hussein is a thug and a tyrant. We don't owe Saddam Hussein any more time. We don't owe him anything. But we do owe the dedicated men and women of our Armed Forces who would be put in harms way the exhaustion of our full efforts to avoid going to war. One thing is abundantly clear: We have not yet exhausted other approaches to disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction.

This rush to action cannot be allowed to stampede our nation into an ill-conceived war. The case has not been made that Iraq, a nation that is sixty percent weaker than it was a decade ago, poses such an imminent threat to our nation that we must be driven to a unilateral attack without international support. Nowhere have we seen credible evidence that Iraq is somehow behind the September 11th attacks. Missing are the facts that could support one nation overturning decades of international law to justify its self-defense.

I voted against this unilateral war on another nation in the name of those proud men and women of our Armed Forces who we would put in harm's way. I did so in the name of the preservation of international law, and our nation's participation in a global community. I did so in the name of our Constitution, which mandates a system of checks and balances, and I did so with the firm conviction that we have not exhausted all options before opening the door to war.

Very truly yours,

JAY INSLEE Member of Congress

JRI/sb

Confirmation # 1375500

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