My problems with the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998

[wuushew]

Reviewing the vote record it strikes me as very alarming that so few politicians voted against the bill. Unopposed in the Senate and with only 39 nea's in the House. Many of those who denounced the current illegal war in Iraq are on record as supporting this bill which stated intent was the overthrow of the Iraqi government. Why are luminaries like Kennedy,Byrd and Kucinich on record as supporting this bill? Why did President Clinton sign it? In the battle to win undecided to the camp of the left how does reconcile insistent past behavior with stated intent?

The whole concept is predicated on the rather foolish notion of absolute morality. As an increasingly cynical nihilist I believe all societies are simply collections of individuals with varying personal opinions of what is right or wrong. When we denounce the brutality of so called "rogue states" how does our opinion carry more weight than those of the other country or the rest of the world?

We sought the assassination of Saddam Hussein yet if he was to attempt the killing of George H.W. Bush it is a crime. The hypocrisy of U.S. foreign policy is insulting to those like myself seek a consistent and impartial legalistic framework in which we act in the world. During the Cold-war we never sought to destroy North Korea or North Vietnam in regards to their physical existence as sovereign states. The obvious and unspoken reason was to prevent nuclear escalation. Ostensibly we limited our actions to satisfy the demands of international law and the U.N. charter.

Clearly without the monolithic boogie man of the Soviet Union the U.S. is now free to impose economic and cultural hegemony across the globe. If the Bush doctrine was in effect immediately following WWII then in order to act consistently we would have nuked Russia before they the bomb in 1949 and China before they developed theirs in the late 1950's. When and where the U.S. chooses to exercise its power is utterly subjective, biased and at the mercy of political whims and economic interests.

War is illegal because the complete international agreement that no nation itself would ever forfeit its' own sovereignty. These few universal concepts or golden rules are the only ones that should be binding. Far too many differences exist within the prism of religion, culture and tradition for one people to judge another.

This above reason should clearly the conservative viewpoint. Unfortunately many on the right are probably blinded by what I will term "benevolent authoritarianism" which combines elements of Judeo-Christian morality/white-man's burden and belief in free markets. Would any true and selfish libertarian believe in this so called American altruism?

Conversely on the left, why are we not hearing more from the cultural relativists and the opponents of war/governmental overthrow as agents of instability?





H R 4655 2/3 YEA-AND-NAY 5-Oct-1998 7:32 PM
QUESTION: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended
BILL TITLE: Establishing a Program to Support a Transition to Democracy in Iraq


Yeas Nays PRES NV
Republican 202 9 16
Democratic 157 29 20
Independent 1
TOTALS 360 38 36




---- YEAS 360 ---

Ackerman
Aderholt
Allen
Andrews
Archer
Armey
Bachus
Baesler
Baker
Baldacci
Ballenger
Barcia
Barr
Barrett (NE)
Barrett (WI)
Barton
Bass
Bateman
Bentsen
Bereuter
Berman
Berry
Bilbray
Bilirakis
Blagojevich
Bliley
Blumenauer
Blunt
Boehner
Bonilla
Bonior
Bono
Borski
Boswell
Boucher
Boyd
Brady (PA)
Brady (TX)
Brown (FL)
Brown (OH)
Bryant
Bunning
Burr
Burton
Buyer
Callahan
Camp
Campbell
Canady
Cannon
Capps
Cardin
Castle
Chabot
Chambliss
Christensen
Clayton
Clement
Clyburn
Coble
Coburn
Collins
Combest
Condit
Cook
Cooksey
Costello
Cox
Coyne
Cramer
Crane
Crapo
Cubin
Cummings
Cunningham
Danner
Davis (FL)
Davis (VA)
Deal
DeFazio
DeGette
Delahunt
DeLauro
DeLay
Deutsch
Diaz-Balart
Dickey
Dicks
Dingell
Dooley
Doolittle
Doyle
Dreier
Duncan
Dunn
Edwards
Ehlers
Ehrlich
Emerson
Engel
English
Ensign
Eshoo
Etheridge
Evans
Farr
Fattah
Fawell
Fazio
Filner
Foley
Forbes
Fossella
Fowler
Fox
Frank (MA)
Franks (NJ)
Frelinghuysen
Gallegly
Ganske
Gejdenson
Gekas
Gephardt
Gibbons
Gilchrest
Gillmor
Gilman
Gonzalez
Goode
Goodlatte
Goodling
Gordon
Goss
Graham
Green
Gutierrez
Gutknecht
Hall (OH)
Hall (TX)
Hamilton
Hastert
Hastings (WA)
Hayworth
Hefley
Hefner
Herger
Hill
Hilleary
Hinchey
Hobson
Hoekstra
Holden
Hooley
Horn
Houghton
Hoyer
Hulshof
Hunter
Hutchinson
Hyde
Inglis
Istook
Jackson-Lee (TX)
Jenkins
John
Johnson (CT)
Johnson (WI)
Johnson, E. B.
Johnson, Sam
Jones
Kanjorski
Kaptur
Kasich
Kelly
Kennedy (MA)
Kennedy (RI)
Kildee
Kilpatrick
Kim
Kind (WI)
King (NY)
Kingston
Kleczka
Klink
Klug
Knollenberg
Kolbe
Kucinich
LaFalce
Lampson
Lantos
Largent
Latham
LaTourette
Lazio
Leach
Levin
Lewis (CA)
Lewis (KY)
Linder
Lipinski
Livingston
LoBiondo
Lofgren
Lowey
Lucas
Luther
Maloney (CT)
Maloney (NY)
Manton
Manzullo
Markey
Martinez
Mascara
Matsui
McCarthy (MO)
McCarthy (NY)
McCollum
McCrery
McDermott
McHale
McHugh
McInnis
McIntosh
McIntyre
McKeon
McNulty
Meehan
Meek (FL)
Meeks (NY)
Menendez
Metcalf
Mica
Miller (FL)
Minge
Mollohan
Moran (KS)
Moran (VA)
Morella
Myrick
Nadler
Nethercutt
Neumann
Ney
Northup
Nussle
Oberstar
Obey
Olver
Ortiz
Oxley
Packard
Pallone
Pappas
Parker
Pascrell
Pastor
Paxon
Pease
Peterson (MN)
Peterson (PA)
Petri
Pickering
Pickett
Pitts
Pomeroy
Porter
Portman
Price (NC)
Quinn
Radanovich
Rahall
Ramstad
Rangel
Redmond
Regula
Reyes
Riley
Rodriguez
Roemer
Rogan
Rohrabacher
Rothman
Roukema
Royce
Ryun
Salmon
Sanchez
Sanders
Sandlin
Sawyer
Saxton
Scarborough
Schaffer, Bob
Schumer
Scott
Sensenbrenner
Sessions
Shadegg
Shaw
Shays
Sherman
Shimkus
Sisisky
Skeen
Slaughter
Smith (MI)
Smith (NJ)
Smith (OR)
Smith (TX)
Smith, Adam
Smith, Linda
Snowbarger
Snyder
Solomon
Souder
Spence
Stabenow
Stearns
Stenholm
Strickland
Stump
Sununu
Talent
Tanner
Tauscher
Taylor (MS)
Taylor (NC)
Thomas
Thompson
Thornberry
Thune
Thurman
Tiahrt
Tierney
Torres
Traficant
Turner
Upton
Velazquez
Visclosky
Wamp
Watkins
Watt (NC)
Watts (OK)
Waxman
Weldon (FL)
Weldon (PA)
Weller
Wexler
Weygand
White
Whitfield
Wicker
Wilson
Wise
Wolf
Woolsey
Wynn
Young (AK)



---- NAYS 38 ---

Abercrombie
Bartlett
Brown (CA)
Carson
Chenoweth
Clay
Conyers
Davis (IL)
Doggett
Everett
Ewing
Ford
Furse
Hastings (FL)
Hilliard
Hostettler
Jackson (IL)
Jefferson
LaHood
Lee
Lewis (GA)
McKinney
Miller (CA)
Mink
Paul
Payne
Pombo
Rivers
Rush
Sabo
Serrano
Skaggs
Skelton
Stark
Towns
Vento
Walsh
Waters



---- NOT VOTING 36 ---

Becerra
Bishop
Boehlert
Calvert
Dixon
Frost
Granger
Greenwood
Hansen
Harman
Hinojosa
Kennelly
McDade
McGovern
Millender-McDonald
Moakley
Murtha
Neal
Norwood
Owens
Pelosi
Poshard
Pryce (OH)
Riggs
Rogers
Ros-Lehtinen
Roybal-Allard
Sanford
Schaefer, Dan
Shuster
Spratt
Stokes
Stupak
Tauzin
Yates
Young (FL)