Afghanistan and Iran
Floor Speech
Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, President Obama's decision to end combat operations in Afghanistan next year is welcome news. I commend President Obama for making this decision. But we should bring our troops home even sooner than that.
The American people are tired of this war in Afghanistan. Large majorities of them want a safe and orderly withdrawal from Afghanistan as soon as possible. A decade of war has ravaged military families, our Nation's treasury, and our standing in the world.
I commend President Obama for ending the war in Iraq as well. I commend him for trying to end the war in Afghanistan. The courageous truth telling of Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis should give us pause. His report and the failure to establish peace in Afghanistan after 10 years of war should remind us that we need a political solution, not a military one.
We have ended the war in Iraq. This is a good thing. We are slowly ending the war in Afghanistan. This is also welcome news. But I suggest to you, Mr. Speaker, that it would be unwise for the United States to enter into a new war just as we're ending two others.
But if you listen to the rhetoric around Washington and the Nation, Mr. Speaker, it is literally impossible to not hear the drumbeat of war with Iran. The rhetoric in Washington about the military strike against Iran leads me to think that we may be sliding into a new war yet.
I would like to be perfectly clear, because whenever you speak against a war, your patriotism is challenged and your courage is challenged until they find out that you were right. So let me be clear:
I strongly oppose nuclear proliferation, and that includes Iran. I have supported sanctions against Iran to help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Iran's repression of human rights and support for terrorist groups is appalling.
But the heated rhetoric we hear around our city and the events on the world stage are deeply troubling, Mr. Speaker. News headlines read, ``The Coming Attack on Iran.'' Pundits discuss the possibility with shocking casualness, and I am alarmed by this.
America, we have seen this movie before, and, Mr. Speaker, it doesn't end well. Two months after leaving Iraq, we have already forgotten the consequences of war it appears. If you need a reminder, talk to a veteran or a veteran's widow.
Our military leaders are cautioning against a strike on Iran. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the United States ``could possibly be the target of retaliation from Iran, sinking our ships, striking our military bases.'' He said, ``That would not only involve many lives, but I think could consume the Middle East in a confrontation and a conflict that we would regret.'' Let me repeat, ``a conflict that we would regret.''
Mr. Speaker, I wish the United States had never entered Iraq. And before we entered it, the world--not just Americans, but the world--said, ``Don't do it.'' Some people led us to war anyway; and haven't we all regretted--after no weapons of mass destruction, no linkage between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden--that none of these things that were recommended have come to pass, yet we've lost, literally, thousands of American lives and perhaps $1 trillion.
Israeli intelligence officials have equally dire predictions about a military strike against Iran. Former Israeli Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said that attacking Iran ``would mean regional war, and in that case, you would have given Iran the best possible reason to continue the nuclear program.''
There is serious concern that a military strike on Iran would hasten Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, not slow it down. A strike would only delay--not end--development. Speaking about what would happen after a military strike, retired General Anthony Zinni said, ``If you follow this all the way down, eventually I'm putting boots on the ground somewhere.''
America cannot afford another war. We've just gotten out of Iraq. We're getting out of Afghanistan. And diplomacy, diplomacy, diplomacy is what is called for to avoid a new war with Iran.
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