The War In Iraq

THE WAR IN IRAQ -- (House of Representatives - January 17, 2007)

Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the most important political and moral issue of the day, the war in Iraq. The war in Iraq costs us dearly in lives, more than 3,000 Americans so far, in dollars, 471 billion by my count; in international prestige by compromising our ability to meet our other foreign policy goals.

President Bush has rejected the sensible recommendations of the Iraq Study Group and instead chosen an escalation of troops. Rather than sending more brave young Americans to fight in an undefined, impossible mission in an Iraqi civil war, we should be looking for ways to redeploy our troops responsibly.

Representative Murtha has courageously offered a framework for that redeployment, and the administration would be wise to heed his advice. The American people want to bring home their loved ones who are in harm's way. The Iraqi people want us to leave so that Iraqis can solve their problems.

As former Secretary of State Albright has pointed out, the only ones who want us to stay are those who will leave Iraq when we leave.

Mr. Speaker, Congress should reject the President's last ditch effort to salvage a botched execution of a flawed strategy.

http://thomas.loc.gov/