|
McNULTY ADDRESS TO HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:
"IT IS TIME TO BRING OUR TROOPS HOME"
(Washington, DC): -- Congressman Michael R. McNulty (D-Green Island) addressed the House of Representatives today on the topic of the conflict in Iraq and the war on terror.
Later this week, the House will debate a resolution, offered by Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), which declares that, "the United States will prevail in the Global War on Terror, the struggle to protect freedom from the terrorist adversary."
Below is the full text of McNulty's statement:
|
HON. MICHAEL R. McNULTY
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Mr. Speaker, when we debated the original Iraq war resolution, the Administration told us that Iraq was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, that there were ties between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, and that Iraq was within a year of having a nuclear capability.
Fast-forward to the deliberations of the 9/11 Commission. They concluded that there were no weapons of mass destruction, no ties between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, and no nuclear capability.
Mr. Speaker, these votes weren't 8-4 or 7-5, they were all 12-0 that the very basis for the war did not exist.
When I go back home, Mr. Speaker, and my constituents ask me to summarize where we are in the war on terror, I tell them this: As we approach the fifth anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in the history of our country, we have committed hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq. More important than that, over 20,000 young Americans have either been killed or seriously wounded going after Saddam Hussein, who did not attack us, while Osama bin Laden, who did attack us, is still alive, free, planning another attack on our country.
That, Mr. Speaker, is the very definition of failure in the war on terror.
We went after the wrong guy.
But after the invasion, did we have a responsibility to help the Iraqi people build a new government and a new way of life? The answer to that question is yes. And we have fulfilled that obligation. We have helped them through not one, not two, but three elections. It is now time for the Iraqi people to stand up and defend themselves.
There is a general rule of military engagement that says that you do not signal to your enemy what you are going to do in advance. But there are exceptions to every rule, and there are two exceptions to this rule.
Number one is that the insurgents in Iraq are using as a recruitment tool the argument that we have no intention of leaving their country, and that we're going to steal their oil -- and it is working! It is fueling the insurgency.
As for our friends in Iraq, those who want this new government and new way of life, they seem perfectly content to let our soldiers take all of the enemy fire. The problem with security in Iraq is not the system of training; it's the fact that the Iraqis are not stepping forward to defend their own government.
So, today, Mr. Speaker, my basic disagreement with the President is this: He says that we should stay in Iraq until the Iraqis declare that they are ready to defend their own country; and I propose that we announce a timetable for withdrawal, start withdrawing our troops, and make our position very clear to the Iraqis: If they want this new government and this new way of life, they have to come forward, volunteer, stand up, and defend it.
Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring our troops home.
|
# # #
|