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Peace Can Be Achieved Not By Force,
Rhetoric, or the United States Alone
House of Representatives - September 21, 2005

Rep. McDermott joined a group of concerned citizens from Seattle on a recent trip to Israel to meet with key leaders, and learn firsthand about the issues affecting peace and security in the region.

The Honorable Isaac Herzog, Israel’s Minister of Housing, spoke to the group during a dinner in Jerusalem. Among those listening was Seymour D. Reich, who is President of the Israel Policy Forum, a U.S. based organization with strong ties to Seattle. IPF strongly supports peace in the Middle East and champions human rights causes around the world.

Mr. Speaker, I recently journeyed to Amman, Jordan, where I met with Iraqi exiles and Jordanian leaders. While there, I had the privilege of addressing a special meeting of the widely respected Arab Thought Forum, a community of leaders from throughout the Middle East.

The Honorable Isaac Herzog, Israel’s Minister of Housing and Seymour D. Reich, President of the Israel Policy Forum McDermott with The Honorable Isaac Herzog, Israel’s Minister of Housing.

For a quarter of a century, the ATF has examined issues affecting the Arab world and developed realistic solutions. There are over 200 members from throughout the Arab world. His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan is the president.

My goal was to listen, to learn, and to bring back whatever message this distinguished organization wanted America to hear directly. Their perspective is uniquely valuable. They are not anti-U.S. or anti-West. They support us even as they champion a strong and safe Arab world. The ATF wants Iraq to succeed. They live every day what we see for a few minutes every night on the news. They do not hate us, but they know who does. They know that hatred is a cancer that spreads if not treated, and they know that Western words that defy Iraqi reality is not treatment.

Every night we witness the unbearable heartbreak of another child dead, another family wailing in agony, unaware of the news camera that acts as a voyeur in their anguish.

How often have we neutralized our feelings to the sight of an Iraqi convulsed in the street, rocking back and forth, holding on to the lifeless body of a loved one? Even the most callous cannot help but admit that Iraq has become a minefield of hatred and violence that pierces Western rhetoric to the very heart. Iraq is close to civil war, and the presence of U.S. forces is a focal point for this blind rage.

Saying it is time to get out would be very easy for me. Saying it is time to find a way out is not, but I am saying just that. The United States needs a plan that protects our soldiers and offers some chance to stabilize Iraq. We are nowhere close to that today.

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Over 1,900 U.S. soldiers have died, between 25,000 and 100,000 Iraqis have been killed, and tens of thousands of Americans and Iraqis have been wounded, and the violence goes on.

The development of an Iraqi Constitution was supposed to be a peace process by another name to bring Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis together, but the Sunnis leaders strongly rejected the process and the document it produced.

Middle Eastern leaders told me that the constitution is sort of a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" sort of affair. They say, as written now, passage would mean another 15 years of war and civil war at the least. If it fails, the insurgents will claim victory over the United States and plunge Iraq even deeper into violence.

As many Arab leaders see it, we are rushing headlong into a lose-lose situation. To these people, the conclusion is inescapable. Many I met privately believe that the United States' actions can only mean the U.S. entered Iraq for oil. They fear the United States will remain not because it is in Iraq's best interests, but because it is in America's oil interests.

Why else, they ask, would the administration refuse to pledge that we will not build permanent military bases? Why else, they wonder, would the administration stubbornly refuse to alter their course in the face of reality? These are our friends talking.

In that spirit, they offered an idea, a breakthrough that changes everything. They do not condemn the administration or America. They do not call for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces. Instead, they asked me to bring back a message of hope that peace can be achieved not by force, rhetoric, or the United States alone.

The Arab Thought Forum believes the road to peace can only be found by having a respected Arab leader convene an Iraqi summit conference without the West dictating the terms. Without the West dictating the terms. It may even be possible for his Royal Highness al Hassan to lead such a summit, but only if the United States stops talking and starts listening. No one I met believes the present course will lead to peace in Iraq.

This weekend, thousands of Americans will participate here in Washington and across the Nation in Operation Cease-Fire. The event will convulse the Nation, pitting Americans who want us out of Iraq immediately against those who believe it is worth going on. We remain deeply divided.

Mr. Speaker, urge the President to stop the rhetoric and get the Arab Thought Forum on point to have such a summit. Only by sitting down with all the parties, led by an Arab, can this be stopped.