[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H7307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  ADMINISTRATION LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN

  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, the administration has launched a new 
campaign to win the Iraq war. The offensive is not in Baghdad or 
Fallujah or Sadr City. It is in New York and right here in Washington, 
D.C. The administration has launched another public relations campaign. 
They did it in the run-up to the war, and they are doing it again in 
the run-up to the election.
  The administration will have its Iraqi functionary here in a few days 
to speak to this Congress. The appearance by Mr. Allawi in the U.S. 
Congress is meant to give the American people the illusion that Mr. 
Allawi was elected, not appointed. It is meant to suggest stability 
amid a sea of escalating violence.
  The American people will decide what they believe to be true. They 
have already had a preview, because England was the first stop on the 
PR campaign. This is what the American people are going to hear over 
and over and over again. In London, Mr. Allawi downplayed the growing 
violence in Iraq. Since the middle of June, in just the last 90 days, 
the chaos in Iraq has claimed more than 2,000 Iraqi lives and more 
Americans than in any other part of this war, yet the administration's 
hand-picked administrator says of the insurgency, ``It is not getting 
stronger. We are squeezing out the insurgency.''
  Then, he changed that glowing assessment for a different British 
audience where Mr. Allawi said, ``Terrorists are coming and pouring in 
from various countries.''
  Now, what is the real story? We will still be asking that question 
after Mr. Allawi leaves.
  At a time when the American people need straight talk about what is 
happening in Iraq, we are going to get carefully planned photo 
opportunities.
  The groundwork has already been laid. Just the other day, the 
President told the American people, ``I am pleased with the progress.'' 
Really, Mr. President?
  Iraq today is more violent than ever. Insurgency is either being 
squeezed out or terrorists are pouring in. Check the morning paper 
tomorrow or the nightly news if you are not sure which of those 
statements is correct. Iraq is so out of control that religious clerics 
are being assassinated in broad daylight. Hostages are being kidnapped 
from guarded homes and beheaded. And U.S. soldiers are in greater 
danger than ever. Iraq is so out of control that a new offensive by the 
U.S. military is being planned for later this year, but not until after 
the election. Sounds a lot like Nixon's secret plan to end the war.
  The administration is delaying action because it denies the magnitude 
of the crisis in Iraq. Instead, they want carefully-scripted political 
appearances and speeches to make the American people believe that your 
eyes and your ears deceive you. The coming public relations events are 
meant to do just that.
  The President says he is pleased with the progress. Mr. Allawi says 
elections are coming. Mr. Allawi also admits that the so-called free 
elections in January may only be about half fair. When he speaks before 
the Congress, I hope Mr. Allawi will clarify which half of the Iraqi 
election will be fair and which will be rigged. The American people 
deserve straight talk, but we are getting double-talk. So is the rest 
of the world.
  At the United Nations today, the President said he is ``enforcing the 
demands of the world.'' Less than a week ago, the U.N. Secretary 
General Kofi Annan told the world that the Iraq war was illegal.
  At the U.N. today, there was every opportunity for the President to 
tell it like it is. Instead, he told it like the spin doctors want it, 
and the world heard the sound of a President in total denial.
  Later this week, Mr. Allawi will say exactly what the administration 
wants him to say as their puppet here in the House. He is their guy. 
This is their war, and they need more money. They will say what they 
want us to hear, despite the deafening sounds of daily violence 
underneath their very words. They will say what they hope will silence 
the critics, because they cannot silence the gunfire. They will say 
whatever they think will win another term in office, because that is 
their first and only priority.
  That is not the way to fight a war or win the peace, but it is the 
only way this administration knows, which is why Iraq's best chance for 
peace can only be realized by a regime change in the United States. It 
will happen on November 2.

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