GALESBURG - An American decision to attack Iraq right now would be hasty and could help a coalition be established against the U.S., Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said Saturday during a visit to Knox College.

"The biggest concern I have is that if the United States decides to go it alone, is that it will precipitate a reaction," Durbin said. "Instead of having a coalition behind us, we'll have a coalition against us - countries that are saying, 'You didn't wait. You didn't use the United Nations. You didn't exhaust any reasonable diplomatic avenues.' "

Durbin spoke of the potential war with Iraq outside the doors of Knox College's Ford Fine Arts Center, site of the 17th Annual Lincoln Colloquium Friday and Saturday. The two-day program featured lectures by Lincoln scholars on the theme "Lincoln's Presidential Writings." Durbin was there to speak on behalf of the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission on which he serves.

"The idea that the United States would launch a massive land invasion on our own, I think, is premature," he said. "It is not necessary at this moment, and it could create some real problems."

Durbin said Iraq has sent a letter welcoming inspection and that the United States must challenge that - the nation must put inspectors on the ground and make Iraq live up to the agreement, he said.

There is not enough evidence linking Saddam Hussein and Iraq to the terrorist attacks, Durbin said. However, he does feel Saddam is dangerous and that he should be treated as a threat to the nation. But war now is not the answer.

"Frankly, I think we can take a more judicious and prudent approach by using the United Nations as a coalition of nations to achieve our goals of disarming him of weapons of massive destruction," Durbin said. "... It's important for us to realize that if we have a coalition of nations going in against Iraq that we're much stronger."

The United States needs to try to negotiate and find a peaceful way out of this situation, he said.

"If we argue that we can attack any country that we think might attack us, imagine what that says to the rest of the world."

Inside Kresge Recital Hall of the Ford Center, Durbin addressed Lincoln scholars who gathered there to share information on the president's writings. Durbin took a brief tour of parts of campus, including a visit to the site of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debate.

"I think its remarkable that you do come together to honor the man that I consider to be our nation's greatest president," Durbin told the audience. "But I think we should also (highlight) on the fact that Lincoln was also one of the greatest writers."

Durbin is a co-chairman of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, which was created in 2000 to promote knowledge about Lincoln and to help plan a celebration of the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth in 2009.

The Lincoln Colloquium is sponsored by The Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site of Springfield, and The Lincoln Museum of Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Contact Joanie Stiers at 343-7181, extension 264, or jstiers@register-mail.com

Publication: The Register-Mail
Date: September 29, 2002
Author: Joanie Stiers

More News