Evan Bayh: “I believe he is correct. I think there was an initial impression that our Government had a preference for unilateral…”

“I believe he is correct. I think there was an initial impression that our Government had a preference for unilateral action, perhaps without exhausting every other alternative. I do not believe that to be true. We have begun to correct that. I should compliment my colleague from the State of Indiana, Senator Lugar, who played an important role in convincing the administration to reach out and pursue other alternatives with the U.N. and our allies. When I go home, people say to me: We understand the danger and we wish it didn't have to come to war. That is a reluctance that I share. My response would be, looking at the brutal nature of his regime, and Saddam Hussein's history, I believe the best chance to remove the weapons, without coming to war, is to present him with a credible ultimatum. People also say: Senator, we wish we were not in it alone, and that we had the U.N. with us and more allies with us. My strong conviction is that our best chance to gather that support is through strong American leadership.”