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News :: Peace |
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Kucinich Mulling Anti-war Bid For Presidency |
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by Jim B
(No verified email address) |
09 Feb 2003
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Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich spoke out against the looming Iraq war and confirmed he is considering a presidential run that would focus on peace and justice issues, in an interview on a Sunday news show today. A transcript follows: |
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich spoke out against the looming Iraq war and confirmed he is considering a presidential run that would center on peace and justice issues, in an interview on a Sunday news show today. The Kucinich segment immediately followed an interview with Colin Powell, on ABC's 'This Week With George Stephanopoulos.'
Kucinich has been the subject of a call by progressives to enter the presidential race, as a way to bring issues and views to the table that would otherwise go unreported. (Additional relevant links can be found at http://www.draftkucinich.com/)
Since the show did not make a transcript available, I have put one together and am appending it here.
[Unofficial transcript of Dennis Kucinich interview on ABC's This Week With George Stephanopoulos, Sunday, February 09, 2003.]
Stephanopoulos: And joining us now from Cleveland, Ohio is Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who is heading to Iowa this week to lay the groundwork for a presidential campaign built around an anti-war message. Good morning, Congressman.
Kucinich: Good morning.
Stephanopoulos: You heard Secretary Powell. He was relatively dismissive of that French-German plan for more robust inspections. He said the time is now to act. And he said what we need is change in Baghdad, not change in the inspectors. How do you respond to that?
Kucinich: Well, if regime change is the goal here then certainly we're headed towards war. However, while the secretary made a compelling case in front of the United Nations for Iraq's noncompliance with UN resolutions, what he did not say is that Iraq has been connected to 9/11, that Iraq has been connected to Al Qaeda's role in 9/11 - our intelligence has not substantiated that or that Iraq played a role in the anthrax attack on our country. That anthrax, by the way, came from Ft. Detrick, Maryland. So I think the imminent threat that would be needed to approach a threshold of war has not yet been established by the Secretary of State or anyone else in the administration.
Stephanopoulos: But we know from the secretary and from U.N. reports that Iraq has thousands of tons of biological weapons, of anthrax, of VX, of Sarin and they haven't turned it over. Doesn't that pose a threat to the United States?
Kucinich: It certainly requires more rigorous inspections. What we don't know is how useable any of these weapons might be. But the mere presence of biological or chemical weapons in a country does not constitute a cause for war. In the case of Iraq, based on all the intelligence we have, it certainly constitutes a demand for more inspections, for U.N. peacekeepers, for increased surveillance. When you think about it, the United States has such awesome intelligence capabilities. We're able to produce these pictures that Mr. Powell showed at the UN. I mean, we certainly, working with the United Nations, should be able to contain Iraq ,and Iraq has been contained successfully through inspections in the past.
Stephanopoulos: The UN weapons inspectors said there would have to be drastic changes in Iraqi behavior to justify continued inspections. If Hans Blix comes back to the United Nations on Friday and says simply, you know, the Iraqis haven't changed, they're still blocking us, would you then support military action under the U.N. umbrella?
Kucinich: I think what we need to do is to be sure that any action that the United Nations takes would not be a result of being dragged into it by the United States. I think that we need as a nation to encourage patience towards peace and not impatience towards war. So while the United Nations certainly has a leading role to play here, and while the United States as the most powerful nation in the world can be in a position to guide the United Nations. I'm hopeful even at this late date that our nation will be pronounced in its efforts to work this out peacefully. And if we are headed towards that direction, I think the United Nations will follow.
Stephanopoulos: But if it reaches a dead end, that's the question i'm asking, if it reaches a dead end and the U.N. Security Council authorizes force, will you support it?
Kucinich: I would say that the only time that I would support the use of force is if there were an imminent threat to the United States, if our country was in danger. We have the right to defend ourselves. That's a foundational principle of this country. But we haven't seen that imminent threat yet.
Stephanopoulos: You're still not answering the question though.
Kucinich: I would say, look, I think we have to see what the U.N. has to say and we have to see what proof is available that there is an imminent threat. If there is an imminent threat to the United States of America, I would say I would support whatever it takes to defend this country.
Stephanopoulos: You know, on Friday you responded to the announcement from Attorney General Ashcroft on the terror alert, saying that the war rhetoric and the massive troop buildup is putting our nation at greater risk. so you think actually that the President's actions in recent days have made the united states more vulnerable?
Kucinich: Well, when you consider the bellicose rhetoric that comes from the administration, when you consider the administration pronouncements that they're talking about using nuclear weapons against Iraq, an 8,000 missile strike against Baghdad, it certainly creates more unsettling conditions in the world and thereby makes the united states even more vulnerable to the intentions of terrorists. so I think you have to see a direct relationship between the increase in the threshold for terror in this country and the administration's foreign policies.
Stephanopoulos: Finally, sir, you are heading to Iowa this weekend. There is a lot of talk that you are going to be running for President. What can you bring to a presidential campaign that the other Democrats aren't bringing to the race?
Kucinich: Well, I haven't announced any intention but i would say this: that I think we need to take a fresh look at foreign policy. I think we need to look at ourselves as a nation among nations that can work for peace in this world without war. I think we need to look at the world as interconnected, as interdependent, and that war itself should be archaic. We have a right to defend ourselves as a nation but I think our best defense is working with the world community to achieve peace through containment and deterrence and not through proliferation of war. In fact, this foreign policy could lead to our inability to meet the needs of people here at home for health care, for jobs, for retirement security, and I think that is something at needs to be discussed in the debate nationally, and I will be in Iowa to meet with some supporters as I indicate a willingness to respond to people I've been hearing from all over the nation who do not want to see war, who want to see this matter resolved peacefully, and there need to be voices out there who can show that the country is capable of new foreign policies, that can enhance our ability to not only meet our domestic needs and provide for the security this nation but also can enable America to play a leading role in the world, to have a new era of peace so our children aren't going to be subject to these kinds of terrorist threats in the future.
Stephanopoulos: Congressman, thank you very much.
Kucinich: Thank you.
Stephanopoulos: We'll be right back.
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