Breaking News.........

[dnice35]

BREAKING NEWS The U.S. House of Representatives approves resolution giving President Bush authority to use force against Iraq. Details to come.

[sassa]

i know this was inevitable (what bush baby wants, bush baby gets...) but WHAT THE FUCK...needless violence, war...

just send some snipers in and kill saddam and overthrow the ba'ath party, why do these poor, starving iraqi people have to suffer more...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------House gives Bush authority for war with Iraq

Senate Majority Leader Daschle also on board

Thursday, October 10, 2002 Posted: 3:25 PM EDT (1925 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House of Representatives voted 296-133 Thursday to give President Bush the authority to go to war to disarm Iraq.

Across the Capitol, a companion measure drew the support of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and cleared a procedural vote by a wide margin earlier Thursday.

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Thursday he'll vote to give President Bush the authority to use U.S. forces to disarm Iraq, saying Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is a threat that "cannot be ignored."

Lawmakers are expected to approve a resolution authorizing Bush to use military force to disarm or depose Saddam Hussein in order to enforce U.N. disarmament resolutions dating back to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The White House says congressional approval will demonstrate American resolve to the United Nations and to Baghdad as the United Nations debates the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq.

"It's not an act of war. It is an act to deter war," said Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, one of the measure's Senate sponsors.

Daschle, D-South Dakota, had expressed reservations about a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, and he was not part of the agreement reached last week with the White House on a proposed resolution.

He said the resolution before Congress gives Bush "extraordinary authority," and he urged the White House to move "in a way that avoids making a dangerous situation even worse." But he said Iraq's pursuit of nuclear weapons could give it the power to dominate the Persian Gulf region.

"The threat posed by Saddam Hussein may not be imminent. But it is real. It is growing. And it cannot be ignored," Daschle said.

The Bush administration says Iraq has kept a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons in violation of U.N. resolutions and has continued efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Bush also has argued that Iraq could give chemical or biological weapons to terrorists. (Ground rules for Iraq inspections)

Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott said Bush has listened to Congress, U.S. allies and the United Nations, and is prepared to find a peaceful solution.

"But unless we make it clear that he is committed and we are committed and the United Nations is committed, this problem will not go away," said Lott, R-Mississippi. "It is serious, and it is imminent. It doesn't take but one person with a small container to bring very dangerous weapons of mass destruction into this country."

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-West Virginia, has argued the resolution would give the White House too much power and tried to amend the resolution to limit Bush's authority to one year. The amendment was defeated on a 66-31 vote.

"We ought to pause here and wonder if John Parker -- Capt. John Parker and his minutemen -- wonder if they fought on the green at Lexington for this piece of rag, this so-called resolution," Byrd said.

In the House, nearly half the Democrats had signed up for time to speak in opposition to the White House-backed resolution. But supporters like Rep. Tom Lantos, D-California, said passing the measure would display a "decisiveness and unity" that would rally U.S. allies.

"Our diplomacy will achieve its purpose only if the Iraqi regime knows that a sword of Damocles hangs over its head," Lantos said.

But Rep. Pete Stark, a fellow California Democrat, said there was "absolutely no evidence that any thinking person could give that says that we are in any danger from Saddam Hussein today.

"You're in more danger from the snipers running around Prince George's County that we can't find," Stark said.