Jeff Duncan: “I have always believed that national defense is one of the most and at times the most important and most legitimate…”

“I have always believed that national defense is one of the most and at times the most important and most legitimate function of our national government. I have strongly supported our military, although at times I have also supported some cost-saving measures in defense spending. I voted for the Gulf War several years ago because Saddam Hussein had moved against another country, Kuwait, and was threatening others. He had what was considered to be the strongest military in the Middle East, although we now know that we vastly overestimated his strength. There were fears then that he might try to take over the entire region if he was not stopped. A few months ago I voted for the $100 million U.S. contribution to try to remove him. From what I have read, Saddam Hussein appears to be a horrible megalomaniac, a terrible dictator who has killed people to stay in power, and I would agree with anything bad that one could say about him. But I believe that Robert Novak, the nationally syndicated columnist and TV commentator, is right when he calls our action against Iraq 'a phony, political war.' Iraq's military strength was almost wiped out by the Gulf War eight years ago. Our sanctions since that time have ruined what was left of Iraq's economy. Our latest bombings have been against an extremely weak, almost defenseless nation, and in fact, against a military the size and strength of ours, Iraq is defenseless.”