Iraq

IRAQ -- (House of Representatives - September 17, 2007)

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Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones for the leadership that she's providing this evening, having taken out the time on the floor to have the members of the Congressional Black Caucus engage this body on this issue of the war in Iraq. I thank you for your leadership, and I'm proud to work with you to help bring our Congress to the conclusion that we must get out of Iraq.

Last week, President Bush and his White House propaganda machine made another attempt at misleading the Nation. Yet again, unsubstantiated anecdotal claims of progress were used to support a continued occupation of Iraq.

However, the President's claims of progress ran contrary to multiple independent reports recently published, including, from the Government Accountability Office, General Jones, and the National Intelligence Estimate. These reports painted a bleak picture of Iraq: continued high levels of violence, a dysfunctional Iraqi government, and sectarian influence that continue to plague the Iraqi security forces.

President Bush's vision of an enduring relationship with Iraq amounts to an endless and unlimited military occupation. Instead of a significant change of policy, the President has reaffirmed his commitment to a dangerous continuation of a failed policy in Iraq.

Deepening sectarian divisions in Iraq make the American military presence increasingly obsolete. In fact, our presence may actually be making the situation worse as Iraqi political leaders hide behind our troops and refuse to make the necessary compromises.

Meanwhile, we continue to train and equip Iraqi security forces and so-called volunteer Sunni sectarian militias across Iraq. Experts suggest that we're merely training different sides of a violent civil war, and losing track of over 190,000 weapons meant for the security forces is surely only adding fuel to the fires raging in Iraq. That is why my colleagues and I recently introduced H.R. 3134, the Responsible Security in Iraq Act. This legislation will halt the dangerous practice of training and equipping of Iraqi security forces, at least until the Iraqi Government matures.

At the cost of precious American lives, the President seeks only to disguise the fact that he has no exit strategy for Iraq. It becomes increasingly clear that George Bush seeks only to protect his own legacy and saddle the next President with the mess he's created in the Middle East.

Let us not forget that, in addition to almost 3,800 troops who have died, 800 of those troops who have died in Iraq have died since the surge was announced in January, including 16 troops since General Petraeus came to Congress to testify just last week.

I know that the media, many in the media have blamed the wonderful, wonderful support group of the Democratic Caucus and people who want to get us out of Iraq for attacking General Petraeus. But I join with them, not in an attack on General Petraeus, but in telling the truth about what has been happening.

Moveon.org need not be ashamed of its advocacy. They need not be a shame of its ads. They are telling the truth, and we need to speak truth to power on this issue.

President Bush sought to appease those who oppose the war by announcing that 5,700 troops will be coming home this year, and another few brigades will possibly return by summer of next year. But these reductions were scheduled to occur with or without Bush's consent. Deployment limits are being reached, and the military has no trained and ready troops to replace the ones leaving.

As the New York Times stated, it's like George Bush dropping an object and then taking credit for gravity.

Regardless, these planned reductions would merely lower our troop levels to 130,000 by summer of 2008. It is absolutely unacceptable that our military presence in Iraq by next summer will still be the same as pre-surge levels.

I'm delighted for the families of the troops who will be leaving Iraq. Many of these troops will be returning from a second, third or even fourth deployment. However, without a significant change in strategy, the President is

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signaling that these troops should not get too comfortable at home. President Bush will surely have them deployed back to Iraq as soon as possible.

As Chair of the Out of Iraq Caucus, I, along with my colleagues, have been advocating for a different direction for years now. In stark contrast to the direction of the President, we understand that the only acceptable option for Iraq is a fully funded withdrawal of all of our troops and military contracts.

The other day, my friend, Congressman John Murtha said, and I quote, ``Yes, many Iraqis consider us the occupiers. But it is also true that Iraq is really occupying us.'' We couldn't be more right. He couldn't be more right.

Let's bring our troops home to their families as soon as possible and refocus this country's resources on the issues that matter the most to the American people. It is time to end this war in Iraq.

And to those who are getting a little bit disgusted with the fact that we don't seem to be making as much progress as we should here in the Congress of the United States, I would like to encourage them not to give up.

I know that it appears that Petraeus and the President organized a presentation and tried to win over the hearts of Americans by putting a general out there, just as he put Colin Powell out when Colin Powell went up to the U.N. and pointed to the buildings where weapons of mass destruction were being manufactured. Colin Powell has said since that time, it was perhaps the worst thing that he could have done in his career. And of course, people respect generals, and they respect Petraeus because he has a long history of having made sacrifice and having been a good warrior.

But ladies and gentlemen, he's wrong on this one.

We don't have to back up. We don't have to shy away from this fight. We don't have to give in and think somehow we're going to be thought of as unpatriotic. Patriotism is to stand up for what is right, what is right for the security of this Nation.

We're at greater risk now than we were before we went in to invade Iraq. As a matter of fact, this President and this war has unsettled the entire Middle East. We know that since we've been there, not only have we created a civil war and all of the sectarian violence, we also know that we have pulled in to this war Iran, and we also know that we are on the verge of pulling in Syria to this war. We also know that this entire Middle East is unsettled because of our occupation.

Despite the fact that the President of the United States said we would be welcomed with open arms, they want us out of Iraq. They want to end the occupation.

Yes, we have some responsibilities there. Yes, we should help to rebuild Iraq, but first, we must bring our soldiers home. We must stop the carnage. We must stop the killings. We must bring our soldiers home.

And I join with Barbara Lee and Lynn Woolsey and members of the Congressional Black Caucus who support the idea that we will vote for funding to bring the troops home safely and securely. We will not vote for funding to continue this war.

We know that the President of the United States has made another request in a supplemental. I will not be voting for any funding to continue the war. And for those of us who really, really believe in what we're saying, for those of us who are committed to the proposition that we can end this war, we will not give him another dime to continue the war.

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