The Connecticut senator, criticized by some Democrats for his prowar stance, said Hussein was a "ticking time bomb" who could have brought more terror attacks to American shores. "I believe I know evil. This guy was evil. I worried that the time would come that if we didn't knock him down, kick him out, that he would sponsor some horrific act against the American people, like Sept. 11."
He said he supports a trial, preferably by Iraqis, and he also supports putting Hussein to death.
Lieberman said that before the war he saw extensive evidence that linked Hussein to terrorist groups. President Bush also has said that Hussein had ties to Al Qaeda terrorists, but that there is no evidence linking him to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Lieberman said his support of the war further draws the line between himself, antiwar Democratic front-runner Howard Dean, and Wesley K. Clark, the former general who also opposed the war.
Hussein's capture was good news for Lieberman and fellow candidates Senators John F. Kerry of Massachusetts and John Edwards of North Carolina, as well as Representative Richard Gephardt of Missouri. Dean has criticized them all for supporting the war.
But it was the best news for Bush. The arrest robbed the Democratic candidates of a potent symbol of Bush's failings in the fight against terrorism and underscored the divide among candidates' views on the war.
Lieberman criticized Bush for his handling of the rebuilding of Iraq, and said Bush has squandered international support, calling it a major flaw in his approach to the war. He said he would work to regain international support.
