Representative Watson Calls on Rumsfeld & Wolfowitz to Step Down
May 6, 2004
In a prepared statement delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives last night, Representative Diane E. Watson of California, called for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, as the principal architects in the failed policy on the war in Iraq. Rep. Watson stated, "It is past due time for them to leave their posts and submit their resignations. The security, safety and prestige of our nation is at stake."
Rep. Watson was especially critical of the conduct of U.S. personnel overseeing Iraqi prisoners as revealed this past week in graphic photos that were aired throughout the world. According to Rep. Watson, "Whether we like it or not, the picture of a hooded, wired prisoner - which one commentator described as an eerie throwback to drawings from the Spanish Inquisition -- has become the new image of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.”
Rep. David Dreier of California joined the Congresswoman in condeming the abuse of prisoners and stated that the House leadership was meeting in the morning to bring forward a bi-partisan resolution to express outrage over the incidents.
Rep. Watson also called attention to the $150 billion cost to the U.S. taxpayers in waging this war and the commitment of more than 135,000 U.S. troops who will remain in Iraq through 2005. She stated that "Billions of dollars have been spent to enrich private U.S. corporations operating in Iraq while private contractors are serving as prisoner interrogators without any oversight or supervision. All the while the Congress is being kept in the dark about the true costs of the war and the Administration's exit strategy."
A complete text of Congresswoman Watson’s remarks follows:
Mr. Speaker, we are all shocked, saddened, and outraged by recent reports of the abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan. The evidence cannot be disputed. Graphic photos have gone from one end of the earth to the other that show stripped young Iraqi men forced to lie in a naked pile with a male and female soldier standing over them and hamming for the camera. Whether we like it or not, the picture of a hooded, wired prisoner – which one commentator described as an eerie throwback to drawings from the Spanish Inquisition – has become the new image of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
And this hooded image may be one of the kinder and gentler images to have yet seen the light of day. A highly critical report completed by the Pentagon in March paints a much more graphic and disturbing picture of prisoner abuse, and I quote from it: “videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees; forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for photographing; forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being photographed and videotaped; a male MP guard having sex with a female detainee; sodomizing a detainee with a chemical light and perhaps a broomstick; and threatening male detainees with rape.”
Yes, we are all sickened and outraged by the photos and reports. The President, his cabinet, military leaders, and the Secretary of Defense have all lined up to say that this is not what America is about; its just the unfortunate handiwork of a few bad apples, and they will be held accountable for their actions. Perhaps. But, as Philip Kennicott writes in today’s Washington Post, and I quote: “These photos show us what we may become as occupation continues, anger and resentment grows and costs spiral. There’s nothing surprising in this. These pictures are pictures of colonial behavior, the demeaning of occupied people, the insult to local tradition, the humiliation of the vanquished. They are unexceptional. In different forms, they could be pictures of the Dutch brutalizing the Indonesians; the French brutalizing the Algerians; the Belgians brutalizing the people of the Congo.”
Should it also be surprising that these hideous events have occurred under the watchful eye of an Administration that prizes secrecy and loyalty above all else?
Mr. Speaker, the prisoner abuse scandal demonstrates that the United States is on the precipice of a major foreign policy disaster. Our standing in the world has been lowered to the point that the United States has been isolated in the court of world opinion. President Mubarak has stated unequivocally that the U.S. is the most hated nation in the Middle East. Sadly, even in other parts of the world we are no longer viewed as peacemakers but instead as the principal threat to world peace.
To date, the war has cost the taxpayers over $150 billion. Now the President is telling us that the war will cost more and that 135,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq through 2005. Billions of dollars have been spent to enrich private corporations such as Haliburton and Bechtel. Private contractors are running around Iraq–even interrogating prisoners–with what appears to be less than optimal supervision. Congress has failed, thus far, to exercise its proper oversight of the war. What additional scandals and outrages are lurking just around the corner?
Mr. Speaker, now is the time to change course in Iraq. The principal architects of the war in Iraq, Secretary Rumsfeld and Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz, have presided over a failed policy. It is past due time for them to leave their posts and submit their resignations. The security, safety, and prestige of our nation is at stake. We will not win the hearts and minds of the Iraqi and Arab people with more blood in the sand or on prison floors.