The Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf (CPSG) was a "bipartisan group whose members are prominent in U.S. international policy circles.... The 39-member group, organized as the Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf, included former U.S. Rep.

Stephen Solarz Stephen Joshua Solarz (; September 12, 1940 – November 29, 2010) was an American politician who served as a United States representative from New York until his political career ended in the wake of the House banking scandal in 1992. Solarz w ...

of New York, who was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and

Richard Perle Richard Norman Perle (born September 16, 1941) is an American political advisor who served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Strategic Affairs under President Ronald Reagan. He began his political career as a senior staff member to S ...

, a former assistant defense secretary for international security policy.

Other members included

Tony Coelho Anthony Lee Coelho (born June 15, 1942) is an American politician from California who served in the United States House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the primary sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is ...

Ann Lewis Ann C. Frank Lewis (born December 19, 1937) is a leading American Democratic Party strategist and communicator. Lewis served as White House Communications Director in the Clinton administration and in senior roles under Hillary Clinton. She is ...

, Robert G. Torricelli,

Richard G. Lugar Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republica ...

, Howard H. Baker Jr., Frank C. Carlucci, and

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lon ...

Open Letter to President Clinton

In February 1998, in an open letter the CPSG asked U.S. President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

"to go beyond a military strike on Iraq and to help overthrow Iraqi President

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolution ...

and replace his regime with a provisional government." According to the news report, however, "U.S. law and international opposition to such a plan would make it unlikely." The group based its request for a strike against Iraq on Saddam Hussein's refusal "to grant U.N. inspectors the right to conduct unfettered inspections of those sites where he is suspected of storing his still significant arsenal of chemical and biological munitions and his apparent determination never to relinquish his

weapons of mass destruction A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill and bring significant harm to numerous individuals or cause great damage to artificial structures (e.g., buildings), natura ...

." In a letter read at a Washington news conference, Solarz called upon Clinton "to adopt and implement a plan of action designed to finally and fully resolve this utterly unacceptable threat to our most vital national interests." Additionally, Solarz stated that "if the force used against Iraq during the 1991

Persian Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

and the punishing U.N. economic sanctions that have been in place for seven years haven't persuaded Hussein to cooperate with U.N. inspectors, it's unlikely that a new and 'much more limited' military strike will change the Iraqi leader's mind."

Open Letter to President Clinton

See also