Message From the Senate
MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE -- (House of Representatives - June 15, 2006)
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Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H. Res. 861 and believe many of my colleagues on the other side of the isle have said that the war in Iraq has nothing to do with the Global War on Terrorism. I could not disagree more with their assessment. Iraq is the central front in the overall Global War on Terrorism. An immediate withdrawal would merely embolden our terrorist enemies and lead to open season on America and our allies. We cannot allow this to happen. We must prevail in Iraq. The stakes are too high to fail.
Coalition forces are having a great deal of success in Iraq. The recent killing of terrorist leader Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, along with seven of his aides, is a serious blow to al-Qaeda's operation. The man Osama bin Laden called ``the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq'' arguably had more innocent blood on his hands in the last few years than any other terrorist. Zarqawi led one of the most deadly insurgent groups in Iraq in a bloody campaign of bombings, shootings, beheadings, and kidnappings aimed at killing Iraqi Shi'as to incite sectarian violence and derail democracy in Iraq.
Furthermore, after receiving confirmation of Zarqawi's death, Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces conducted 17 simultaneous raids in the Baghdad area, yielding a treasure trove of information and intelligence that is being analyzed for future use.
Iraq's National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said today that these documents and computer records would give the Iraqi government the upper hand in its fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq.
``We believe that this is the beginning of the end of al-Qaeda in Iraq,'' al-Rubaie said, adding that the documents showed al-Qaeda is in ``pretty bad shape,'' politically and in terms of training, weapons and media.
``Now we have the upper hand,'' he said. ``We feel that we know their locations, the names of their leaders, their whereabouts, their movements, through the documents we found during the last few days.''
He also said that he believed the security situation in the country would improve enough to allow a large number of U.S.-led forces to leave Iraq by the end of this year, and a majority to depart by the end of next year. ``And maybe the last soldier will leave Iraq by mid-2008,'' he said.
Throughout American history, we have been tested in times of war. But virtually every time, we stayed the course and prevailed.
We did not experience quick victory in the American Revolution. In fact, it took our Founding Fathers years to win our hard-fought independence. We were defeated at the Battles of Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains and others, and we will never forget the dark days at Valley Forge, yet we did not give up our desire for freedom.
And let's not forget in World War II, where we suffered rapid and repeated defeats at Guam, Wake Island, the Philippines and Kasserine Pass.
We must also remember that the terrorists were at war with us long before we were at war with them. In April 1983, 63 people, including the CIA's Middle East director, were killed in a suicide truck-bomb attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Later on that year, simultaneous suicide truck-bomb attacks on the American
and French compounds in Beirut killed 242 Americans and 58 French. In 1988, all 259 people on board Pan Am Flight 103 were killed when a bomb believed to have been placed on the aircraft by Libyan terrorists exploded. These are just a few examples. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker there are others.
Noted Islamic scholar Bernard Lewis has written that the sources of Islamic antagonism toward the West stems from the belief that the American way of life is a direct threat to Islamic values. But it is basic Western democracy that especially threatens Islamic extremist because within its own community more and more Muslims are coming to value the freedom that political democracy allows. Lewis has also written that attitudes toward the West have evolved through contacts with first the Eastern Empire in Constantinople, then Spain, Portugal and France, and through years of direct conflict in the Crusades and the colonial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries. As we can see, the War on Terrorism did not begin on September 11, 2001
The Global War on Terrorism will not be won next week, next year, or even in the next 10 years. Like the Cold War, this struggle is a generational conflict, potentially spanning decades. The Cold War stretched from Asia to Africa to the very heart of Europe, just as our struggle today reaches from the Philippines to the mountains of Afghanistan to, as we recently saw, our neighbor Canada. Terrorism knows no bounds and will strike wherever freedom reigns, from London to Madrid, to a quiet field in Pennsylvania.
Victory cannot be found on a single battlefield or a single treaty signing. Our enemy does wear a uniform and is not governed by international rules of war. They have one goal: kill as many Americans as possible and establish tyrannical regimes that rule according to a violent and intolerant distortion of Islam.
The War on Terror will be a long war. Yet we have mobilized to win other long wars, and we can and will win this one.
Last year, I traveled to Iraq and everybody I met was enthusiastic about doing their job and helping the Iraqi people. We found our troops have high morale and a commitment to their mission. The troops told us that we are winning the war.
Because of our intervention, a murderous dictator and a totalitarian regime have been overthrown, free elections have been held, a new constitution has been drafted and ratified, and a new national unity government has been completed.
Mr. Speaker, Iraq is only one theater in the overall Global War on Terror and success in Iraq is vital to victory. Much has been accomplished but much is left to be done. The question for all of us here is do we have the will to stay the course and leave with honor I believe we do. We must finish the job. The stakes are too high to fail.
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