Chuck Hagel: “these are very serious times. The administration and America face a complicated and dangerous dilemma in Iraq. This…”

“these are very serious times. The administration and America face a complicated and dangerous dilemma in Iraq. This dilemma must be approached from a framework of both our short-term and long-term foreign policy objectives. As the administration weighs its short-term options, including the possibility of military action with regard to the situation in Iraq, I believe it is very important that we in the Senate keep a steady focus on the objective before we start playing out these other options. We all know that any military action must have a clear objective. If our Nation decides to risk the lives of young American men and women, we must do so for a clear purpose, with a clear understanding of the possible intended and unintended consequences and a reasonable assurance of success. Let us remember that the original objective in the Iraqi puzzle was the full compliance by Saddam Hussein with the 1991 resolutions that ended the Gulf war. Most important is Security Council Resolution 687, adopted on April 3, 1991, which clearly spelled out Iraq's obligations under the cease-fire agreement that ended the Gulf war. Those obligations have the force of international law and still stand today. This has been the U.N.'s primary focus and objective. It was Saddam Hussein who created this current situation when he invaded Kuwait in 1990 and the world united against him. This is not the United States and Great Britain against Iraq.”