Failings of Arabs - as Representative of Muslims

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Reps. David Bonior, D-Mich., Jim McDermott, D-Wash., and Mike Thompson, D-Calif., leave today for a five-day trip to Iraq to see first-hand the toll that war and economic sanctions have taken on the country.

The trip is aimed at gaining insight into the humanitarian challenges another war on Iraq would have on innocent Iraqis and the dangerous implications of a unilateral, preemptive strike on U.S. national security.

McDermott, Bonior and Thompson will be part of a delegation organized by the Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq, a project of the Church Council of Greater Seattle, and LIFE for Relief and Development, a Michigan charity organization licensed by the United States and the United Nations to administer aid in Iraq.

"I tend to think there are other ways to deal with the disarmament of Iraq, and we should exhaust every single possibility to do that before the United States takes the absolutely unprecedented step of a preemptive strike," McDermott said. "The day the United States starts saying, 'We don't like this leader; we're going to take him out no matter what the human cost is,' we have crossed a major line in international behavior. And I am very worried about that."

Bonior said a better understanding of the humanitarian problem in Iraq and its national security implications are crucial to the United States' decision whether to launch another war.

"We continue to rattle sabers and pound war drums, and yet we have very little idea of challenges we could face afterwards.   What happens to our standing on the world stage if we act alone? Will our men and women in the military be required to occupy Iraq and for how long?" Bonior said. "The question is do we want to put our military personnel and Iraqi civilians in harm's way in an action that is dangerous to our national security priority - the war against terror?  We have assembled an important coalition to fight the terrorism of Al Qaeda and this war will threaten that."

The group will leave today and arrive in Baghdad on Friday.  They will visit many sites, including a hospital, a water filtration plant and an oil-for-food distribution site.  The group will return on Tuesday.

Thompson said gaining firsthand knowledge about Iraq will better help him and Congress work with our regional allies to address the humanitarian challenges faced by Iraqi citizens who may not be responsible for their leaders' actions.

"The classified briefings Congress has been presented to date have fallen short of bridging the current chasm between a rush to war and evidence of an immediate threat," Thompson said. "The more we can learn, the better our ability will be to bring long-term stability to this region."