[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       PRECIOUS LITTLE TIME REMAINING TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL IRAQ

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                          HON. JOHN D. DINGELL

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 4, 2004

  Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Speaker, it was a year ago that President Bush 
landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln and pronounced that major combat 
operations in Iraq had ended. The banner strung across the command 
tower of the carrier read ``Mission Accomplished'', and the President's 
words that evening gave the American people, and the families of those 
in Iraq, that our men and women would soon be coming home.
  If this was a perfect world, our President's made-for-TV excursion 
would have made the perfect Hollywood ending to mercifully short war. 
Sadly, this is not a perfect world. War is never perfect, it is messy. 
It is grotesque, and it does not end on any schedule but its own.
  The month that marked the year anniversary of announcing the end to 
major combat operations has been the bloodiest of the war. Since May 1, 
2003 over five hundred men and women have been killed, including 
Private Holly McGeogh of Taylor, Michigan, killed when her vehicle hit 
a roadside bomb. Almost three thousand more have been injured. Many of 
our returning young men and women will have an even tougher fight ahead 
of them as they adjust to life in a wheelchair or with a prosthetic 
limb.
  I say this, not to heap criticism on a situation where young men and 
women are risking their lives. I say this because one year after the 
tyrant was toppled we still have a long way to meet our goals. The men 
and women stationed outside Fallujah and Najaf can tell you that major 
combat is still a fact of life.
  Today we have little more than eight weeks before we turn some 
measure of sovereignty to the Iraqi people. And much like a college 
student trying to cram before finals, our Iraq policy is now at a fever 
pitch trying to right the wrongs of a poorly planned reconstruction 
effort. General Eisenhower once said, ``In preparing for battle I have 
found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.'' Sadly, 
today we are watching the results of cavalier planning.
  The arrogant manner in which pre-war criticism was dismissed is 
tragic in hindsight. General Shinseki's belief that it would take 
200,000 more troops to provide post-war security led to his 
unceremonious dismissal. Presidential economic adviser Larry Lindsey 
estimated the war would cost at least $150 billion, rather than pay for 
itself as Vice President Cheney asserted, led to his forced 
resignation. The wholesale dismissal of the Iraqi army created hundreds 
of thousands Iraqis unemployed with bitterness towards the US as their 
only severance. Ironically, it's has been the dismissed generals who 
have tried to foster the tenuous truce in Fallujah.
  Mr. Speaker, I voted against giving the President the authority to go 
to war in Iraq. Yet once engaged in battle, I believe we must do all we 
can to bring the troops home safely, provide them with the equipment 
needed to keep them safe, and to have a plan to bring them home. We 
have had none of these?

  For all the vaunted leadership of this White House, with all 
accusations thrown around by their allies in Congress that impugn the 
patriotism of those that might question the President, our military is 
bearing the brunt of their poor planning. The hollow rhetoric from the 
President and his allies has not put more troops on the ground, has not 
brought more countries into the coalition, has not unburdened America 
of the costs of the reconstruction, and has not brought our brave men 
and women home to their families. Challenging terrorists and insurgents 
to, ``Bring it on'' is not a policy; it is a substitute for bravery 
that threatens our soldiers in the field.
  This April has been the deadliest month of combat we have had since 
the Vietnam War. We all hope and pray that the months ahead will not be 
so brutal. I am not asking that President present the Congress and the 
American people with a detailed plan of how long we will be there; how 
much it will cost; who will take charge; and a myriad of other 
questions. I know that in war a plan can easily be overtaken by events. 
What I ask, one year after his now infamous speech, is that he just be 
honest with us. Respond to our questions, put our soldiers before other 
concerns, and level with us. We are a great nation, the Congress is a 
great institution and the voice of the people. We have precious little 
time remaining to ensure a successful Iraq.
  It is my hope, that a year from today, that we can mark the end of 
this bloody month as the true turning point for the future of a free, 
prosperous, and democratic Iraq.

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