CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
SENATE
Sept. 23, 2004
STAYING THE COURSE IN IRAQ
Mr. ENSIGN. Mr. President, I wish to speak just for a few minutes this morning, especially in light of the wonderful speech we heard from the interim Prime Minister of Iraq, Mr. Allawi.
I had the tremendous privilege, back in June, to meet with Mr. Allawi.
I found him to be very articulate and a true visionary for his country. This is a man who has a target marked on his chest and on his back wherever he will go in the world. It is critical that we do everything we can, along with the Iraqi security forces, to protect him and other leaders there. They are truly in the line of fire. There are many who would want to assassinate Mr. Allawi because they do not want to see freedom and democracy progress in Iraq.
The speech Prime Minister Allawi gave this morning was heartfelt. You could tell he appreciated what America and Americans families, along with our coalition partners, have sacrificed for the liberation of Iraq. Mr. Allawi made reference to a few things which I believe, as a country, we need to acknowledge. The only way for the terrorists and the insurgents to win is if America loses its way and loses its will.
Terrorists look for ways to disrupt and to win over public opinion because they know they cannot win militarily. We have not lost a single battle or military engagement in the last 3 years in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our military is so superior that the battles are not even close. We win every single one. So the terrorists know that the only way they can win is if they succeed in shifting public opinion back here at home. That is what the purpose of the terrorist attacks in Spain. They wanted to shift public opinion far enough to incite change, which they succeeded at doing. It decided the Spanish election and prompted Spain to pull out of Iraq.
We have to send a strong signal. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, whether you are for the war or against the war, it is critical that we as Americans stand together and send a message overseas, the way our foreign policy to do. We used to stand together as Republicans and Democrats and say partisanship stopped at the water's edge. We once again need to assert that ideal. We need to say to those who would come against us who would rise against the spread of freedom, the opportunity for people to live and worship how they want to and have the freedoms that we enjoy in many parts of the world-we need to say very clearly that we will not allow them to win. We will not allow this radical form of Islam to take over the world.
There is a battle of cultures. We must realize that. The radicals, the ones who want to win the hearts and minds of most of the Muslims around the world, are a small percentage. But we cannot allow them to win at this point. It is critical that we stay strong. We must send a message that our resolve is not going to waiver. We are not going to allow this to affect our elections. We are not going to allow terrorists to win here in the United States.
There are people-and they are good Americans, solid Americans-who are against this war, who have been against it since the beginning. I plead with those in our country to look at the message that division in our country sends to those who would attack us, who would come against us. The old saying "united we stand, divided we fall" is as true today as it has always been. The more we show that we are united in this global war on terrorism, the less likelihood that the terrorists will continue. The terrorists must see that public opinion cannot be shifted because of the latest bombing or the latest beheading or any other horrific acts they may try to inflict on us. The more apparent our unity, the stronger our resolve, the less chance they will have to recruit new, young volunteers as suicide bombers. The less money they will be able to recruit from wealthy people around the world who are financing some of these activities.
We are in the middle of a Presidential election. We realize that. It important that we have strong, steady leadership, leadership that I believe we have in President Bush. It is at a time of criticality to our country and our foreign policy that our leadership carry us through the next few years and send a message to the rest of the world that we are going to stand strong, that we are going to stay the course.
Let me conclude with this: There are naysayers who believe democracy cannot work in the Middle East, that the only type of governments they can have over there are either dictatorships or some type of a religious theocracy. Prime Minister Allawi clearly addressed that today and spoke on behalf of the Iraqi people hungering for freedom and democracy. We must be successful in helping them to achieve that. Staying the course, whatever it takes, is critical not only for Iraq but for the larger global war on terrorism and to our own security here at home.
If we weren't fighting in Iraq, I can guarantee you, we would be fighting here against terrorists on our own soil. Our military is much more prepared for that battle than our civilians are. We are in a dangerous, different world today. We must realize that.
I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.