Sam Nunn

About the Author: Sam Nunn, a Democrat, is a U.S. senator from Georgia, and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Editor's Note: The following viewpoint is taken from Sam Nunn's speech before the U.S. Senate on January 10, 1991. Nunn opposed the Senate resolution (passed on January 12) authorizing President George Bush "to use all necessary means" to force Iraq out of Kuwait unless it ended its occupation by January 15, 1991. Nunn co-sponsored an alternate resolution calling for continued economic sanctions against Iraq, which the Senate rejected.

It is regrettable that because of Iraqi intransigence, the meeting in Geneva with Secretary James Baker produced no diplomatic breakthrough and very little that was encouraging. I noted with interest—and I must say with almost complete amazement—that the...