Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002 | 9:31 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., today confirmed he will vote for a resolution authorizing President Bush to invade Iraq but said it will be with more reluctance than when he voted in 1991.
The situation is different, Reid said, because Iraq in 1990 had invaded a defenseless nation; now the United States is mulling a pre-emptive strike.
He cautioned Bush to continue to amass allied support and pay close attention to international rules of law. An international coalition will be vital in Iraq, especially after an attack, Reid said.
"You are the leader of the free world, you are not the ruler," Reid said on the Senate floor, speaking directly to Bush.
Reid this week has said he was likely to support the Bush-approved resolution, but today formally explained his position in a nine-minute speech. He said he wanted his stance to be clear to Nevadans and, in particular, one man -- Bush.
A solemn Reid said he did not take the decision lightly because Nevadans would be sent into conflict.
"Our pilots from Fallon Naval Air Station and Nellis Air Force Base are considered the best aviators in the world," Reid said. "I know they would be called to play a leading role" in ousting Saddam Hussein.
Reid said he was encouraged to hear Bush on Monday say that an invasion was not inevitable and he urged Bush to honor his vow to use military action as a last resort.
Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who served as an Air Force pilot in the Persian Gulf, has backed Bush from the beginning, and reiterated his reasons in a speech on the House floor Tuesday night.
"In 1991, I flew through the smoke and the ashes of the fires in Kuwait ordered by Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War, and in that war I saw the death and destruction this dictator is capable of," Gibbons said. "I saw missiles launched at our troops."
Gibbons said Hussein has biological weapons including 30,000 liters of anthrax and has defied United Nations weapons inspectors. He said Hussein supports terrorists and was the only world leader to condone Sept. 11.
"I am convinced that, given the opportunity, Saddam would use his weapons of mass destruction against us, whether directly himself or indirectly through selling them to some terrorist organization," Gibbons said.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate have streamed to the microphone in both chambers this week to explain their positions for the record. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was expected to speak today and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., was arranging for time on the floor in the next day or two. Both have said they also support the resolution authorizing Bush to use force.
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