Cleland Warns Against Repeating Tonkin Gulf Mistake

By Donna Cassata, CQ Staff Writer

For Democratic Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, the proposed congressional resolution endorsing a strong U.S. response to Iraq bore a disconcerting resemblance to a document three decades ago -- the 1964 Tonkin Gulf resolution that essentially gave the president a blank check to wage the Vietnam War.

Cleland, a former Army captain who lost both legs and one arm in a grenade explosion during the war, led a handful of dissenting Democrats on Jan. 29 in delaying all-but-certain Senate passage of an Iraq resolution.

Arguing that the non-binding, bipartisan measure (SConRes71) was "overly broad and open-ended," the Democrats pressed congressional leaders to come up with a revised version.

"I've been down that road personally once before," Cleland said. "I don't want to go down it again."

The Senate and House are expected to act on a resolution the week of Feb. 2.

Iraq has defied the world community for months by refusing to allow international inspectors to examine its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.

In his State of the Union speech on Jan. 27, President Clinton had a stern warning for the president of Iraq: "I know I speak for everyone in this chamber, Republicans and Democrats, when I say to Saddam Hussein: 'You cannot defy the will of the world.' And when I say to him, 'You have used weapons of mass destruction before. We are determined to deny you the capacity to use them again.' "

Congressional leaders subsequently wrote the resolution condemning Iraq's resistance to full-scale inspections and urging Clinton to take "all necessary and appropriate actions to respond."

That wording was discomfiting to Cleland, who questioned whether history was on the verge of repeating itself.

In 1964, in the wake of reports that North Vietnamese boats had attacked U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin, President Lyndon B. Johnson ordered air strikes on Hanoi's naval base and asked Congress for a strong statement against Communist aggression.

The Tonkin Gulf resolution, which the House and Senate passed overwhelmingly, supported the president's determination "to take all necessary measures" to repel an armed attack and aggression.

The executive branch interpreted that broad language as the legal authority to wage war, and although Congress repealed the resolution in 1970, the conflict did not end until 1975.

Cleland said he supports a strong congressional statement against Iraq and has asked Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, to come up with a revised version, perhaps based on the resolution Congress passed in January 1991 authorizing the use of force against Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait. That measure cited the War Powers Resolution, which granted Congress the specific statutory authority for using force.

If the leaders fail to come up with a revised version, Cleland said he and Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill., would offer amendments to the non-binding resolution. Another dissenting Democrat suggested it would not reach that point.

"This is really about something large being written very quickly. We'll work it out," said Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., who is also a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War.

But the delay surprised some Republicans who were baffled by the fuss over a non-binding resolution that had strong bipartisan backing and was intended to support a Democratic president who called for unity in his State of the Union address.

Message to Allies

Congressional leaders felt compelled to issue a strong statement on Iraq to underscore U.S. resolve as the administration deals with a crisis over allegations that Clinton had a sexual relationship with a White House intern and told her to lie about it.

In an interview with ABC on Jan. 25, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said the accusations were a distraction. Lott also said he was "worried now on how it will be interpreted" overseas.

The resolution was "not just for Saddam, but it's for our allies," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright embarked on a series of diplomatic meetings in Europe on Jan. 29. She indicated that American patience with Iraq was wearing thin and that unilateral U.S. military action was a strong option.

In testimony to Congress on Jan. 28, director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet said the United States has destroyed much of Iraq's Scud missile and chemical weapons capabilities.

However, Tenet said, "we are still worried about his biological weapons capability."

Saturday Jan. 31, 1998

• Clinton Budget Reaffirms Stand Against Broad GOP Tax Cuts
• House Panel Gets Back to Business, Hoping To Put Rancor Aside
• Congress Finds No Easy Answers To Internet Controversies
• Long List of Its Own Trespasses Tempers Congress' Judgment
• Cleland Warns Against Repeating Tonkin Gulf Mistake
• If the Furor Subsides, Will There Be a Case?
• Talks on Renaming Airport For Reagan Continue
• Both Parties Focus on Speech Not Scandal, To Chagrin Of Some
• Clinton Succeeds in Slowing Scandal's Momentum