Harkin says war is likely

Iowa Senator Tom Harkin says it’s almost certain the U.S. will go to war with Iraq in the next few weeks. Harkin, a democrat, says he’s found no evidence to back the republican administration’s reasons for going to war. Harkin says he’s re-read the president’s State of the Union address and says it is just “one supposition after another in terms of the so-called evidence.” Harkin says other things he’s heard about potential nuclear and biological weapons hidden by Saddam Hussein haven’t convinced him either. He says we have no proof “he has any of this stuff anywhere” and says he believes the president and his advisors have made up their minds they’re going to war. Harkin says the things the U.S. is doing right now are costing an estimate one billion dollars a week, and he says he has no idea what more action will cost.He says he has no way of knowing how long or short it will be and what the repercussions will be, neither does anyone else. He says the president is rushing headlong into the action without a firm grip on what the dimensions are going to be. On another topic, Harkin says the president has promised to revamp the Medicare system, but a review shows the president’s plan won’t solve one the biggest problems — a disparity in reimbursement payments.He says it won’t correct the unfair payment system that hurts Iowa. Harkin says the president’s plan doesn’t include a prescription drug benefit for seniors, which Harkin says will spell the death of the program. He says working Americans would have no guarantee that traditional Medicare will be there for them when they retire. Harkin says he’ll stand in the way of the president and his advisors letting Medicare “wither on the vine.”