Northwestern’s three-year old debate series jumped into the discussion about war in Iraq Wednesday as students and professors argued the merits of using force to depose Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

“Saddam Hussein is a threat not only to global peace but also to his own people … a brutal dictator bent on destroying not only the United States but also the members of his own country,” said Debate Society member Jonathan Paul, who argued in support of the United States’ use of force to rid Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction capability.

The debate, which drew about 70 people to the McCormick Tribune Forum, was this year’s first installment of NU’s Great Debate series.

The threat posed by Saddam, Paul said, is so great that the United States should act, even without multilateral support, to end his regime. A failure to do so could result in casualties far greater than the 3,000 people who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C. and New York City, Paul said.

But Bret Harper, who argued against the use of force to oust Saddam, said military action would increase tension in the area, cause hundreds or thousands of civilian deaths and increase the likelihood of chemical, biological or nuclear weapon deployment.

“A military is not the best means for calming an area down,” said Harper, a member of NU’s Debate Society. “In fact, it is just the opposite.”

Instead of using unilateral force to depose Saddam, Harper argued, the United States should encourage the use of U.N. weapons inspectors to slow Saddam’s development of weapons of mass destruction. While the inspectors would not necessarily find every weapon in Iraq, he said, they would make it inconvenient for Saddam to test or sell his weapons.

Although such a move might foster international support for future attacks, the affirmative side said that it also would weaken the United States’ bargaining position. Because sanctions against Iraq historically have been backed by threats of force, stepping down after threatening to attack for two months could give Saddam the impression that the United States is unwilling to use force and therefore that he is free to disregard the sanctions, Paul said.

“It is impossible to remain a world leader while you let yourself be pushed around by a pissant tyrant with a basement full of anthrax,” said Debate Society member Jim Lux.

Lux called dependence on inspectors and other deterrents “suicide” and said the United States must act to send a strong message to other hostile nations, such as North Korea.

The event, said NU Debate Society Director Scott Deatherage, allowed for an open discussion of a very contentious subject.

“This was a very thoughtful examination of the issues,” Deatherage said. “Public policy would probably be better off if we engaged (all) the issues in this much depth.”