View source for Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf

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[[File:WeaponsInspector.JPG|thumb|right|250px|A UN weapons inspector in Iraq.]]
The '''Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf''' ('''CPSG'''), formed in 1990 to support president [[George H. W. Bush]]’s campaign to drive [[Saddam Hussein]] out of [[Kuwait]], was a bipartisan group whose members were active in U.S. foreign-policy circles. "The 39-member group…[included] former U.S. Rep. [[Stephen Solarz]] of New York, who was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and [[Richard Perle]], a former assistant defense secretary for international security policy."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9802/20/iraq.war.presser/ "Overthrow Hussein, U.S. group advises"] CNN World News Story Page, February 20, 1998. John King, contributor.</ref>

Other members included [[Tony Coelho]], [[Ann Lewis]], [[Robert Torricelli|Robert G. Torricelli]], [[Richard Lugar|Richard G. Lugar]], [[Howard Baker|Howard H. Baker Jr.]], [[Frank Carlucci|Frank C. Carlucci]], and [[Jeane Kirkpatrick|Jeane J. Kirkpatrick]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/10/world/hawkish-coalition-is-forming.html|title=Hawkish Coalition Is Forming|last=Rasky|first=Susan|date=10 December 1990|work=New York Times|access-date=January 20, 2020}}</ref>

==Open Letter to President Clinton==
At a Washington, DC news conference in February 1998, Solarz read a letter from the CPSG addressed to president [[Bill Clinton]], urging more decisive action against Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]]. "Despite his defeat in the [[Gulf War]], continuing sanctions, and the determined effort of [[United Nations|UN]] inspectors to fetter out and destroy his weapons of mass destruction", read the open letter, "Saddam Hussein has been able to develop biological and chemical munitions".<ref>{{cite web | author = Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf | url = https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/1998/02/24/open-letter-to-the-president-4 | title = Open Letter to the President | date = Feb 19, 1998 | website = centerforsecuritypolicy.org | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140407180753/https://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/1998/02/24/open-letter-to-the-president-4 | archive-date = April 7, 2014 | url-status = live}}</ref> The letter continued, "the United States has tried to remove Saddam by encouraging [[Coup d'état|coups]] and internal conspiracies. These attempts have all failed. Saddam is more wily, brutal and conspiratorial than any likely conspiracy the United States might mobilize against him. Saddam must be overpowered; he will not be brought down by a [[coup d'etat]]. But Saddam has an [[Achilles’ heel]]: lacking popular support, he rules by terror [and is] hated by his own people and the rank and file of his military. Iraq today is ripe for a broad-based insurrection. We must exploit this opportunity."<ref>[https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/open-letter-to-the-president-4/ "Open Letter to the President"] Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf, February 19, 1998. Center For Security Policy.</ref>

Detailing a plan of action, the letter urged Clinton to recognize a provisional government based on the [[Iraqi National Congress]] with a restored safe haven in northern Iraq — financed by release of frozen Iraqi assets "to the control of the provisional government to fund its insurrection". It further urged Clinton to "launch a systematic air campaign against the pillars of Saddam’s power — the [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]] divisions which prop him up and the military infrastructure that sustains him", and to "position U.S. ground force equipment in the region so that, as a last resort, we have the capacity to protect and assist the anti-Saddam forces in the northern and southern parts of Iraq".<ref>[https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/open-letter-to-the-president-4/ "Open Letter to the President"] Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf, February 19, 1998. Center For Security Policy.</ref>

In a report on the news conference and open letter, [[CNN]] correspondent [[John King (journalist)|John King]] asserted that "U.S. law and international opposition to such a plan would make it unlikely."<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9802/20/iraq.war.presser/ "Overthrow Hussein, U.S. group advises"] CNN World News Story Page, February 20, 1998. John King, contributor.</ref>

==See also==

*[[Citizens for a Free Kuwait]]
*[[Committee for the Liberation of Iraq]]
*[[Committee on the Present Danger]]
*[[Institute for Religion and Democracy]]
*[[Project for the New American Century]]

==Reference Notes==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/1998/02/24/open-letter-to-the-president-4/ Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf Open Letter to the President, 19 February 1998]

[[Category:Iraq and weapons of mass destruction]]
[[Category:Political organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Iraq–United States relations]]