TO REVISE UNITED STATES POLICY ON IRAQ--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - March 14, 2007)
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Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I urge us to move forward and consider the Iraq resolution so that every Member of this body can speak on this issue, we can debate it, and we can cast our votes on what we believe the policy should be for the United States in Iraq.
I would like to take us back to October of 2002. I was in the other body in October 2002. I voted against the resolution that gave the President the right to use force in Iraq. Let's remember the basis on which that resolution was passed. We were told that Iraq was in violation of U.N. resolutions concerning weapons of mass destruction and we needed to have the option to use military force in order to enforce that resolution and get rid of weapons of mass destruction.
The United States was also concerned about the war against terror, and there were statements made about the war on terror.
I might tell you, there was no evidence that Iraq was involved in the attacks on our country on September 11. And, yes, there was a desire by many to get rid of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
What has happened since then? Our American troops have been in Iraq. We found no weapons of mass destruction. There are serious questions as to the intelligence information we had and how that was relayed to all of us. Saddam Hussein is gone. He has been removed. The Iraqi Government is now in place. A constitution was adopted. A government was elected. The Maliki government is now responsible for the affairs of Iraq. Times have changed.
But the most significant change that has occurred in Iraq during the last year has been the increased sectarian violence--a civil war. That is what is taking place in Iraq today. It is clear the presence of the U.S. military will not end the civil war. Iraqis need to end the civil war through diplomacy and negotiations and the confidence of the people in Iraq.
Something else has changed in the last year. We had national elections in our country, midterm elections. The people asked for change. Now there is a change in the Congress, and during the first few months of this Congress, we have held over 40 oversight hearings on what is happening in Iraq. I do not recall these hearings taking place in the last Congress.
Those hearings have pointed out--with expert after expert; military expert, foreign policy expert--we are not going to end the sectarian violence in Iraq by increasing American troops. We cannot win it on the battlefield. We have to deal with it and negotiate a settlement in Iraq.
We have before us the Reid resolution. We also have before us the President's current policies in Iraq. Do we want more of the same--an escalation of troops, a continuation of U.S. military presence in Iraq in the midst of a civil war--or do we want a change in direction? The Reid resolution represents a change in direction. It is a change in direction as it relates to U.S. troop levels.
We have lost almost 3,200 American troops, 68 from my own State of Maryland. There is a civil war in which American troops are not adding to ending that civil war. We need to look at whether we want to increase our troops, as the President wants, or to start redeploying our troops so the Iraqis can stand up and defend their own country so we can look for a political solution to what is happening in Iraq. We can remove the big target on Americans. Public opinion in Iraq says it is OK to kill Americans. We have to remove the American presence so we can move forward.
The Reid resolution gives us a well-defined mission which we can achieve, which is in the interest of the United States, that the Iraqis would take responsibility for their own country, would have well-trained security forces.
The resolution speaks to what we need to do as far as a surge in diplomacy, to urge more countries to get involved so the Sunnis and Shiites can live together and have confidence in their own government that represents a change, that represents a direction that is in the interest of the United States.
I urge us to be willing to debate this resolution and to vote on this resolution. That is our responsibility. It is our responsibility as Members of this body. It is our responsibility to our men and women who are serving our Nation, our Armed Forces. It is a responsibility we owe to our Nation. I urge my colleagues to move forward so we can go on record and change the direction of America's participation in Iraq so we can achieve the objectives that are in the interests of our Nation.
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