Congress Authorizes Force Against Iraq

On October 11th, 2002 the US Congress passed a resolution authorizing the President to use force against Iraq if it did not abide by UN resolutions and disarm. The House passed the resolution by 296- 133 and the Senate passed it 77-23. Many who did not wholly support going to war with Iraq supported the resolution believing the only way to convince Saddam to disarm short of war was if he thought the US might actually attack. Text of Resolution