Alcee Hastings: “we are about to set the course for our nation's foreign policy that will impact the rest of this century, and we are…”

“we are about to set the course for our nation's foreign policy that will impact the rest of this century, and we are about to decide the destiny of many of our young men and women. There is not doubt in my mind that Saddam Hussein poses a real threat to the United States. He has violated every U.N. Security Council Resolution and has committed unspeakable atrocities against his own people. If there is an axis of evil, then Saddam Hussein is its lynchpin. However, the question before the Congress today is not whether or not Saddam Hussein is a threat. The question is what do we do about it? And when? And how? To begin, war must be the last option, not the first solution. We must demonstrate to the world that we will continue to exhaust diplomatic and peaceful options to protect our security and national interests. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, we must demand a Resolution that allows unhampered--any time any place--access to any and all areas within Iraq for inspection, and we must equip the inspection teams with thousands of coalition forces to ensure both their protection and the United Nations' commitment to peace. A preemptive strike will have serious repercussions on the entire Middle East region.”