Joe Lieberman: “The difference, I want to respectfully suggest, is in the context--in the historical context. There was an invasion by…”

“The difference, I want to respectfully suggest, is in the context--in the historical context. There was an invasion by Iraq of Kuwait. There had already been a United Nations Security Council resolution. That is why the authority was as described. Here, this resolution by Senators Warner, McCain, Bayh, and I have introduced is based on a record now of 11 years in which everything else has been tried to get Iraq to comply with those resolutions, and they haven't. I think the difference here--I ask the Senator if he would react--is that the Senator has acknowledged the obvious inherent right of the United States to act in self-defense. That is a higher standard than the question of acting to enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions. In other words, it may be I might argue that is not in self-defense because I believe if we do not disarm Saddam Hussein, he will eventually strike us and our allies. But, in any case, in affirming a right of self-defense, the Senator has set a standard that is not carried out in a later section which makes our ability to enforce those resolutions pursuant to United Nations authorization.”