NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008--Continued -- (Senate - July 17, 2007)
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Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, yesterday the Senate voted on an amendment offered by Senator Cornyn, amendment No. 2100, that states, in part, that it is the Sense of the Senate that the ``Senate should not pass legislation that will undermine our military's ability to prevent a failed state in Iraq.'' I opposed that amendment, but my vote should not be viewed as a lack of concern for the consequences of a failed Iraqi state.
I agree that it is not in the interest of the United States for Iraq and the rest of the Middle East to devolve into total chaos, and no one in this body argues differently. However, I opposed the amendment because it suggests that the United States Senate will be bound to a policy of supporting an endless U.S. military involvement in Iraq. By implying that it is our military's responsibility to prevent a failed state in Iraq, the Cornyn amendment suggests that it is up to our service men and women, now and into the future, to undo the missteps of an ill-conceived adventure directed by a reckless President.
The amendment fails to define what exactly a ``failed state'' is, nor how the U.S. military should go about preventing one. Some may not have noticed, but Iraq is perilously close to a reasonable definition of ``failed state'' already. In the third annual ``failed state'' index, analysts for Foreign Policy magazine and the not-for-profit Fund for Peace said Iraq is now the second most unstable country in the world. Its standing deteriorated from last year's fourth place on a list of the 10 nations most vulnerable to violent internal conflict and worsening conditions.
Mr. President, I feel that we should be relentless in our efforts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice and to vanquish the al-Qaida terror network. This amendment, however, does not say anything new, and it does not imply a change in U.S. policy. What it does, however, is suggest that if the failing situation in Iraq does not improve, if the Iraqi government does not step up, if the sectarian violence that has persisted for over a millennia does not abate, the U.S. Senate should not take action that would allow us to modify the mission or withdraw forces--ever. That, Mr. President, is an extremely unwise and imprudent statement and an even more unwise policy.