As the House Armed Services Committee continues its review of U.S. policy toward Iraq, Eliot A. Cohen, director of Strategic Studies at SAIS and author of the recently released book Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime, was invited to testify before the committee on Oct. 2.

"The argument that I can put to you is easily summarized," Cohen began, "it is that the choice before the United States is a stark one, either to acquiesce in a situation which permits the regime of Saddam Hussein to restore his economy, acquire weapons of mass destruction and pose a lethal threat to his neighbors and to us, or to take action to overthrow him. In my view, the latter course, with all of its risks, is the correct one. Indeed, the dangers of failing to act in the near future are unacceptable."

The complete text of Cohen's statement can be found at www.house.gov/hasc/ openingstatementsandpressreleases/107thcongress/ 02-10-02cohen.html.

Before joining SAIS, Cohen was on the policy planning staff of the Office of the Secretary of Defense. It was widely reported by the media over the summer that President Bush was reading Supreme Command.