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W a r C o n t i n u e d
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~~~ords:
D o n 't B r o a d e n W a r A im s
'. :,.,~" ,... , : negotiating last week, Jeffords said, it
~ • _ .< .... ,,,:':),.
might have made sense to declare a cease
r: }.~ .~
fire for 24 or 48 hours to see if the
talks
w . . ., ~ .
(.'/lijl~~~
would prove
su~cess~l.
But once Jeffords
,l....~:., . ;~~ .", ..ll heard .that Iraqi soldiers were torturing
"':~ ':I ...~~,
Kuw~l1tis,
he was "not too upset" that
l~".~.
Presidem George Bush launched the
# " ' . ~ ,
ground war.
"Although I would have preferred to
have .seen more negotiation, I'm not too
, sure It would have been successful."
I
That's what Ll.S. Sen. James JeffordsR-Vt., said Monday in response to
aVer!
mont Times
survey of the state's congres-
sional delegation.Jeffords, U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Bernard Sanders: I-Vt.,responded to a written questionnaire from
V e r m o n t
Times
and follow-up interviewsabout their views on the war. The con-
gressmen were asked their opinions on
what United States war goals should be'what they estimated the war's cost to
b e '
and how it should be paid; and what Con.gress should do if public support for the president's policy deteriorates.While the Soviet Union and Iraq were
The
goal of the fighting should be
N·
Just
to
remove
Iraq from
Kuwait," not capture Saddam Hussein.
However, Jeffords said, the goal of thefighting should be "just to remove Iraq from Kuwait," not capture Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein. Once that is doneUnited Nations forces should be used to patrol the border to prevent further in-
vasions.
As
for what government should ruleKuwait, "that should be up to the United
Nations. We're policemen,
not judges
or
legislators."To find a more lasting solution, Jeffordssaid it is imperative to prevent the strug-gle between the rich and poor Arabcountries. "To me the biggest problem
over there
is
economic disparity ....
AJ·
though he's certsinly a madman in many
ways,»Jeffords said of Hussein,
"he cer-tainly hit a responsive chord" when he ap- pealed to the poor Arab countries by at-tecking wealthy Kuwait.Meanwhile in the United States, Jef-fords said, "the military war may be over ... but the economic war is going full-fledged .... Ifwe don't get ourselves in
gear, we're going
to
be
a second-ratecountry."
In addition to focusing on improved education, Jeffords said the United States
must lessen its dependence upon oil.
"I've
been
~ork.ing
on a plan for several years,"
he said. The federal government's former synthetic fuels program subsidized the dif-ference between the cost of producing the
alternative energy and petroleum.
"I'he
problem is that's all government cost." Jer·
fords said his approach would be to re-
quire the energy industry to increase its
non-oil
fuel sources by
1
percent every
year for 10 years. That way, although thecost will be borne by consumers, there will be
a real market for alternative energy.
S a n d e r s : W h y a G r o u n d W a r W h e n P e a c e W a s N e a r ?
"My
major concern was the United Na-tions, which ostensibly is the institutionwhose resolutions are being implemented,
was in the midst of a discussion of howthey could reconcile the Soviet and Iraqi proposals (for peace) ... in the midst of
that discussion, Bush began the war."
The United States should not try to cap-
ture Hussein, Sanders said.
"Saddam
Hus-sein is a very dangerous and vicious
die-tater, But it seems to me what this war isabout ... is to get Saddam Hussein and Iraq out of Kuwait."Although he'd prefer to have United Nations forces take over once the fightingstops, Sanders said the war underscores .the shortcomings of the UN. ''The UN hasfailed in what its major task should be - :to prevent war. I have a real fear that theregion is not going to be more peaceful or
more stable after the
war."
To make the area more peaceful,Sanders said, the issues that need to be
resolved are the Israeli-Palestinian con-
flict, the strife between rich and poor
countries, and the lack of democracies in
such powers as Saudi Arabia and Syria.In Kuwait, he said, "the U.S. should do
what it can to promote democracy." .-
Sanders also is pessimistic about avoid-ing future wars because Congress islosing its foreign policy-making powers to
the "imperial presidency."
''The Congress has very little to say onany of this, this is one of the major prob-
lems ....
Mr.
Bush's agenda
is, in
fact, tocontinue these types
of wars."
To stopthat, Sanders said more Progressives
should be elected to Congress. "We need a political revolution." •
Bernard Sanders
L e a h y : T h e D ie is C a s t
"I voted against authorizing PresidentBush to go to war in the Per;'ian Gulf. I preferred giving the economIc and diplo-
matic sanctions time to work.
"But Congress had a lengthy and thorough debate, and voted to give the president the authority to go to war; Thatvote is history. Ijoin all Americans
In
full
support of our men and women
W ? O
must
nOWcarry out the mission authOrized by.CQngress.Md.the presIdent.
"Saddam
Hussein leads
the war as
he
has led his country - ruthleesly, brutally,
and without
concern
for human rights,world opinion or his own people.
"Iraq's
with- drawalfrom Kuwait could bring an end to the war almostimmediately. "
"The cost of this war, estimated bysome at up to $1 billion a day, should not be hidden from the public. The best wayto keep the public apprised of the cost isto fund the U.S. part through a special pay-as-you-go
tax
that will end when thewar ends. Adding the cost to the nationaldebt counters our pledge to balance the budget and is irresponsible. We should be
pressing our allies to do more, and our
chances improve if the public understendsthe huge cost that the United States is
now bearing alone.
''The war should not stop efforts to bring hostilities to a quick end. TheUnited Nations has a role in providingdiplomatic options."One
of
those options - Iraq's with-
drawal from Kuwait - could bring an end to the war almost immediately. The over-whelming majority of the American peoplestrongly support our men and women inthe Gulf.
''1
have spent time with too many youngVermonters going to war in the last fewmonths not to know that the pride of their families is mixed with sorrow, anxiety and fear for their safety."I hope our mission is quickly com- pleted, our men and women broughthome, and they are replaced by an Arabor United Nations peacekeeping force."That rests with the diplomats, who should work for peace with the same vigor that
we are now pursuing to win the war." -
