Here is the exchange that occurred at the Ohio Town Meeting
between the old Vet and Secretary Cohen.
Special note to R. Andrew Hooten I:
       Rush did not write or originate this material, it took
       place on national television.  The quoted material is
       separated from my words by the line of dashes.  The source
       for the EXACT WORDS is listed beneath the line.
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Washington Post
For the Record
Thursday, February 19, 1998; Page A16
From a question-and-answer session with Defense Secretary William
Cohen yesterday at a town hall meeting at Ohio State University:
Q: I spent 20 years in the military. My oldest son spent 25. My
youngest son died in Vietnam. Six months later, his first cousin
died in Vietnam. We stood in the gap. If push comes to shove and
Saddam will not back down . . . are we ready and willing to send
the troops in? You see, I have no problem with asking any one of
these guys in the armed forces to stand in the gap for me now,
that we stood in the gap back then. And I want to know. . . . Are
we willing to send troops in and finish this job, or are we going
to do it half-a--ed? (Cheers, applause.) And then, at that time,
come back and ask my grandson and some of these other grandsons
to put their lives on the line, if we're going to do it
half-a--ed the way we did before. (Cheers, applause.)
Sec. Cohen: . . . Let me be as direct as I can. I just returned
from visiting our troops on the USS George Washington. I visited
our troops on the USS Independence. Each and every one of those
young men and women who are out there are prepared to do whatever
is necessary in order to contain the threat. What we are seeking
to do is not to topple Saddam Hussein, not to destroy his
country, but to do what the United Nations has said in its
declarations. And we want to insist that it's not only words but
deeds. We want the enforcement of the U.N. declarations. And
these young men and women are prepared to carry out that mission.
We do not see the need to carry out a large land campaign in
order to try to topple Saddam Hussein. Our mission is to get the
inspectors back; if they can't get back, to make sure that he
can't constitute or reconstitute this threat.
Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company
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Secretary Cohen calls that a direct answer?
Interesting contrast in the audience reaction as well.
T.E. - San Diego Ilks (Sgt. at Arms)
... Save money, close the Army bases where Clinton served.
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