Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 -- Motion to Proceed -- Continued
Floor Speech
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Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, a lot of us are deeply concerned about the
situation in the Middle East, in Ukraine, in China, to which we have
paid very little attention to as they expand their territory.
I ask unanimous consent that I be allowed to engage in a colloquy
with the Senator from South Carolina.
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Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, there is a huge credibility gap. The
Washington Post probably said it better than I probably could, and it
is entitled ``A credibility gap,'' in the Washington Post, by Fred
Hiatt, editorial page editor, February 22. He says: ``If his
negotiators strike an agreement next month, we already know that it
will be far from ideal,'' talking about the Iranian nuclear deal.
He continues:
The partisanship needs no explanation, but the record of
foreign-policy assurances is worth recalling:
This is very interesting and I think deserves the attention of all
Americans.
In 2011, when he decided to pull all U.S. troops out of
Iraq, Obama belittled worries that instability might result.
Iraq and the United States would maintain ``a strong and
enduring partnership,'' Obama said. Iraq would be ``stable,
secure and self-reliant,'' and Iraqis would build a future
``worthy of their history as a cradle of civilization.''
Today [as we know] Iraq is in deep trouble, with a
murderous ``caliphate'' occupying much of its territory and
predatory Shiite militia roaming through much of the rest.
The same year, Obama touted his bombing campaign in Libya
as a model of U.S. intervention and promised, ``That's not to
say that our work is complete. In addition to our NATO
responsibilities, we will work with the international
community to provide assistance to the people of Libya.''
My friends, we all know what has happened in Libya and the reason
is--despite what Senator Graham and our then-former colleague Senator
Lieberman said--we had to do some things in Libya to make sure there
was stability in Libya. Obama then walked away.
Continuing from the article:
Obama also said then, ``Some nations may be able to turn a
blind eye to atrocities in other countries. The United States
of America is different. And as president, I refused to wait
for the images of slaughter and mass graves before taking
action.'' That was before Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad's
barrel bombs, systematic and well-documented prison torture
and other depredations of civil war killed 200,000 of his
compatriots, and drove millions more from their homes.
In August 2011, Obama declared that Assad must ``step
aside.'' In a background briefing a senior White House
official added, ``We are certain Assad is on the way out.''
In August 2013 came Obama's statement that ``the worst
chemical attack of the 21st century . . . must be confronted
. . . I have decided that the United States should take
military action against Syrian regime [military] targets.''
As a personal aside, the Senator from South Carolina came over to the
White House, and the President of the United States assured us that he
was going to take military action and we were going to degrade Bashar
al-Assad and upgrade the Syrian Army, and, obviously, the article
states that ``no military action was taken, and Assad remains in
power.''
Defeating the Islamic State is one we have successfully pursued in
Yemen and Somalia for years--successful in Yemen and Somalia that we
have pursued for years. Just last month in the State of the Union
Address, President Obama presented his Ukraine policy as a triumph of
``. . . American strength and diplomacy. We are upholding the principle
that bigger nations can't bully the small by opposing Russian
aggression supporting Ukraine's democracy,'' he said.
We all know. We have watched Ukrainians slaughtered, slaughtered with
the most modern equipment that Vladimir Putin has. That great national
bloodletting is going on, and we are watching, thanks to the assistance
of the Chancellor of Germany and the President of France--in the finest
traditions of Neville Chamberlain--we are standing by and watching that
country be dismembered.
What the Senator from South Carolina and I are trying to say is what
General Keane said the other day:
. . . al Qaeda and its affiliates exceeds Iran and is
beginning to dominate multiple countries. In fact, al-Qaeda
has grown fourfold in the last five years.
Radical Islam is clearly on the rise, and I think our policy of
disengaging from the Middle East has contributed to that rise.
So there is no policy in Iraq, there is no policy in Syria, there is
no combating or assisting even the Ukrainians as they attempt to defend
themselves against the wholesale slaughter of their countrymen by
Vladimir Putin.
My friends, we have had ample testimony before the Armed Services
Committee, people who served this country with distinction for many
years--Republican and Democratic administrations. All of them have said
they have never seen the world in more turmoil, and these things don't
happen by accident. It is not like hurricanes or earthquakes, it is a
matter of a failed, feckless foreign policy that began in 2009 and the
chickens are coming home to roost.
May I mention--my friend from South Carolina--this is where we are
with the Islamic State. We are hearing from the administration, I
believe, that we are gaining. Look at the Islamic State, January 10, of
Syria in red--this is the Islamic State and contested places--and look
at August 31. Obviously, there are significant gains. One more chart,
please.
Looking at this chart, these are the areas of all of that part of the
world that are now controlled or under attack by ISIS, including, by
the way, we now see ISIS gaining a foothold in Libya.
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Mr. McCAIN. Before my colleague leaves Iraq, is it not true that the
only real fighting being done now is the Peshmerga Kurds but also the
Shia militia, who are inflicting human rights violations on the Sunni,
and the same people we fought against during the surge that my
colleague talked about before, which is Iranian backed and Iranian
trained?
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Mr. McCAIN. Could I just mention to my colleague--and it has been
made perhaps larger than it should have been, with all of the crises
and the tragedies that are transpiring, but the President of the United
States refuses to refer to this as radical Islam. Why that is is hard
to understand because it is clearly radical Islam. It is a perversion
of an honorable religion, but everything they are doing is based on
their perverted interpretation of the Koran. They are Islamic. While we
respect the religion and we respect the people, we don't respect
radical Islam and we have to recognize it for what it is.
Let me read this, from February 24:
Scores of Syrian Christians Kidnapped by Islamic State--
Islamic State militants swept into several of Assyrian
Christian villages in northeastern Syria in recent days,
taking scores of hostages, including both civilians and
fighters, according to numerous interviews with residents. .
. . The attacks have displaced hundreds of families and
sharpened Middle Eastern Christians' fears of the Islamic
State.
Which the President of the United States refuses to recognize as
radical Islam. When you don't even recognize it or identify it for what
it is, how in the world are you going to be able to combat it?
Finally, I would say to my friend one more time, if he would respond,
that the Ukrainians wanted to defend themselves. One of the richest and
proudest aspects of American history is that we have helped people who
are struggling for freedom, whether it be in Afghanistan after Russia's
invasion or others. And others have helped us, going all the way back
to our Revolution when the French and Polish and others came in and
helped us. How can we rationalize our failure to give them weapons to
defend themselves by saying: Well, they can't beat the Russians anyway.
Why don't we listen to their pleas for help? Why don't we listen to
their cries? Why don't we listen to the fact they have lost 5,000; that
right now the most sophisticated weaponry the Russians provided these
``separatists'' is being used to slaughter them?
To me it is the most unbelievable view, that somehow we don't want to
provoke Vladimir Putin, who has taken Crimea--they have written that
off--shot down an airplane, at least with Russian equipment; moved and
dislocated eastern Ukraine; and has caused an economic crisis. And we
don't want to provoke Vladimir Putin? It is staggering.
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Mr. McCAIN. That included the State of Crimea as part of the
territorial integrity of Ukraine.
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Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the article
titled ``Credibility Gap'' from the Washington Post and also the
International New York Times article ``Scores of Syrian Christians
Kidnapped by Islamic State'' be printed in the Record.
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Source