[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 60 (Tuesday, May 4, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H2525]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H2525]]
                 THE IRAQ WAR JUST KEEPS GETTING WORSE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, America has suffered the worst defeat in 
memory, and not by any insurgents. The world is rightly shocked and 
appalled by the pictures from Iraq. Rogue U.S. soldiers have committed 
atrocities that sicken us. They have harmed Iraqi citizens. They have 
endangered every decent U.S. soldier, and they have turned more people 
against us. The world must know that America stands for justice, and 
that justice should be carried out quickly against those responsible 
for these despicable acts.
  The Iraq war just keeps getting worse for America, Mr. President. For 
those who mistrusted us before, the pictures will inflame their 
rhetoric. For those who hate us, the pictures will impassion them to 
find new recruits.
  Every decent American can only feel enraged that the sordid conduct 
of a few people will be portrayed worldwide as representative of our 
Nation.
  Iraqis were insulted and humiliated, but seven officers have received 
only a reprimand, a slap on the wrist. They were not even demoted or 
discharged. The world will ask, is that what America calls justice? No, 
it is not; and this administration had better take this seriously.
  The U.S. would have gone to war if our citizens had been treated like 
this in another country. Remember our outrage when they hung some of 
our people from a bridge. The administration's response is just one 
more mistake. It is completely inadequate.
  Iraq has been a mistake from the beginning. The administration 
refused to get help and support from the international community, and 
the administration continues to spout rhetoric that no one in the whole 
world either believes or accepts. Every day, literally, the 
administration switches from one policy to another.
  First, the Baathists were bad, aligned with Saddam and no friend to 
the U.S. Then the U.S. hired a Baathist general to try and get us out 
of the mess in Fallujah. Then the U.S. replaces the guy after Iraqis 
protest the general's role in Hussein's regime. Now a new guy is in; 
but the insurgents, heavily armed and fortified, have already rejected 
the new general.
  Fighting has broken out in several cities, and U.S. artillery is 
shelling positions near the Baghdad airport. There have been more U.S. 
casualties, and U.S. soldiers remain in grave danger all over Iraq 
while the administration test-fires a few possible solutions.
  Note, Mr. President, this is not a test. Iraq is not a laboratory. 
They are shooting real bullets, and we keep pretending we have a 
policy. Some say Iraq is not like Vietnam. Iraq looks more and more 
like Vietnam every day.
  In southeast Asia, there was always more reassuring rhetoric from a 
Democratic President, by the way, than there was truth or policy to 
back it up. In Iraq, there is all this talk of growing a democracy; but 
in reality, we are seeding a civil war, with our soldiers' blood right 
in the middle of the violence.
  What is the American administration going to say, We are working on 
it? The Pentagon said a few hours ago that 135,000 U.S. soldiers will 
remain in Iraq at least through 2005. In other words, the only thing 
being handed over on June 30 is a bill of goods, meant more for the 
American people and the election than the Iraqis.
  It is time this administration faced the American people and the 
truth of their mistakes. Either get an international solution now, 
before more U.S. lives are lost, or get out and admit you should have 
never gone into Iraq in the first place. All the rhetoric in the 
administration's arsenal can start a debate, but it cannot stop a 
bullet.

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