Anthony Weiner: “as we engage in this most patriotic debate, I am struck by how much we all seem to agree upon. We all seek to avoid…”

“as we engage in this most patriotic debate, I am struck by how much we all seem to agree upon. We all seek to avoid using our troops and unleashing our military might unless we are forced to. The greatness of our Nation is not measured in our muscle, but in our restraint. We are a Nation of awesome power; but we do not use it to conquer other peoples, to expand our borders. We are rightly proud of our history of taking the first blow before we move to respond. On this we all agree. We all seem to understand and support the imperative of operating in cooperation with international institutions and multilateral coalitions when tackling truly global challenges. It is moral leadership to act in concert with others, and it is smart politics. We prefer this path for it speaks to our respect for others, and we follow this path because it makes the road to our national goals that much smoother. On this we all agree. We all agree that the regime in Iraq is a menace to the region and anathema to international law, not to mention a disgrace to our common humanity. Even the most fervent opponent of use of force does not contend that Saddam Hussein is not a tyrant. On this we agree. Finally, we all agree that in some degree or another preemption has to be part of our national defense.”