Spring Break
Chafee speaks with students about election
Stephen Greenwell
Issue date: 10/5/04 Section: News
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"I think our leaders have a job to be square with the public," Chafee said.
Chafee questioned President Bush's motives for invading Iraq, claiming that he supported former President George H. Bush's actions because he considered the freedom of Kuwait a noble pursuit.
Speaking of the current invasion of Iraq, he said, "At some point you have to focus on the evidence, and it wasn't really there."
Chafee was the only Republican senator to vote against the war in Iraq. He attributed the lopsided vote to the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
"A lot of it had to do with the trauma of Sept. 11," he said.
Chafee made his remarks to about 20 journalism students yesterday morning in a classroom at the University of Rhode Island. The room was in the Chafee Social Science Center, a building dedicated to his father, former Senator John Chafee.
"I've never been in this building before, believe it or not," he said.
Chafee said he did not think former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States.
"The six countries surrounding Iraq said not to do it," he said. "If he's not a threat to them, then how is he a threat to us?"
Chafee discussed how some of the "hawkish" conservatives have suggested that the draft should be brought back. He said he has heard talk of invading Syria or Iran next, and worried that Iraq was simply a first step. He viewed this as a contradiction to President Bush's pre-election mandate to be humble in international affairs.
He also criticized President Bush's record on the environment, citing the administration's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol or raise minimum mileage standards for SUVs. Referring to carbon dioxide pollution, he said, "Even the president's scientists are saying that this is a problem."
