[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 114 (Tuesday, September 21, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S9404]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          INSTABILITY IN IRAQ

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, the chaos in Iraq gets worse with every 
week that goes by. Many key cities are now under the control of the 
insurgents. Virtually every day we see car bombings, kidnappings, 
assassinations, beheadings. American soldiers and Iraqi civilians are 
being attacked and killed at an alarming and escalating rate. But if we 
listen to the President, what we hear is sugar-coated happy talk.
  The President says:

       We're making progress. We're making progress.

  He says we have a strong government in Iraq headed by Mr. Allawi. He 
says that because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, democracy is spreading 
``like a sunrise.''

  Well, the President may have been a cheerleader in college, but we 
need more than cheerleading now.
  Let's be clear: President Bush misled us into this war, and he is 
misleading us today about where we stand in Iraq. His misguided, 
mismanaged war has become a quagmire with ever-rising body counts and 
no end in sight.
  Over the weekend, a host of Republican Senators stepped forward to 
urge the President to face the facts and at long last to be open and 
honest with the American people. On Sunday, Senator Hagel of Nebraska 
said:

       The fact is, we're in trouble. We're in deep trouble in 
     Iraq.

  Senator Richard Lugar, distinguished chairman of the Foreign 
Relations Committee, criticized what he called ``incompetence in the 
administration'' that has resulted in a failed Iraq reconstruction 
effort.
  Senator John McCain said:

       We're not winning.

  Senator Lindsey Graham said that we need to be ``more honest about 
how difficult it will be'' in Iraq.
  Ironically, the President's father, George Herbert Walker Bush, 
warned against the folly of invading and occupying Iraq. On February 
28, 1999, speaking to a group of Desert Storm veterans at Fort Myer, 
VA, the former President told them:

       Had we gone into Baghdad--we could have done it, you guys 
     could have done it, could you have been there in 48 hours--
     and then what?

  Then the first President Bush continued:

       Whose life would be on my hands as commander-in-chief 
     because I unilaterally went beyond international law, went 
     beyond the stated mission, and said we're going to show our 
     macho? We're going into Baghdad. We're going to be an 
     occupying power--America in an Arab land--with no allies at 
     our side. It would have been disastrous.

  That was former President Bush in 1999.
  Of course, we heard the same prophetic warnings from Brent Scowcroft, 
James Baker, and other foreign policy experts. But this President Bush 
and his partner Dick Cheney thought they knew better. So now the 
disaster that Bush 41 warned against has become a reality under Bush 
43. It is painfully clear that President George W. Bush's wrong 
choices--in particular, the botched hunt for Osama bin Laden, the 
invasion of Iraq based on false justifications, the Abu Ghraib torture 
scandal, the alienation of our friends and the world--have been 
profoundly destructive to America's national interest. They have 
damaged our traditional alliances. They have undermined our moral 
authority, and they have all but destroyed our credibility.
  Worst of all, the actions of this administration have had the 
perverse effect of encouraging, inciting, multiplying the terrorist 
threat. Exhibit A is Osama bin Laden himself. It has been more than 3 
years since the President pledged to ``smoke him out'' of his cave. But 
Mr. Bush did not smoke out Osama bin Laden. Instead, the Bush 
administration got massively distracted by its obsession with Saddam 
Hussein. These days, the days responsible for the murder of some 3,000 
Americans on 9/11 is ``Osama bin forgotten.''
  In a press conference Secretary Rumsfeld had on September 10 of this 
year, he mixed up Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden twice. Here is a 
quote from our Secretary of Defense:

       Saddam Hussein, if he is alive, is spending a whale of a 
     lot of time trying to not get caught and we have not seen him 
     on video since 2001.

  Well, Saddam Hussein, as John Stewart pointed out on ``The Daily 
Show'' last night, is in prison. But he said that twice about Saddam 
Hussein. You see, in their minds--in Rumsfeld's mind, Osama bin Laden 
and Saddam Hussein are the same person. He cannot quite distinguish 
them.
  The problem is Osama bin Laden has not forgotten us. He and his 
followers remain as dangerous today as on September 11, 2001. In July, 
the administration issued a dire warning that bin Laden and his chief 
lieutenants were directing an al-Qaida effort to launch a catastrophic 
attack in the U.S. before the election.
  There is broader evidence that the U.S. invasion of Iraq has incited, 
encouraged, and stepped up the recruitment of terrorists around the 
world. In April, the State Department issued its annual report on 
terrorism, claiming a big drop in terrorist incidents--and success in 
the war on terrorism. But, in June, the State Department acknowledged 
this report was grossly incorrect. The State Department acknowledged 
that, in fact, twice as many people died in terrorist attacks in 2003, 
and terrorism around the world has increased significantly.
  The objective statistical record is clear: As a consequence of 
choices made by George W. Bush, America is weaker, America is less 
secure, Americans traveling abroad are less secure, America is more 
vulnerable. And the professionals--the men and women on the front 
lines--know this is true.
  Earlier this year, the Army War College published a report that 
concluded, in so many words, that the administration has bungled the 
war on terrorism. The report called the war in Iraq ``unnecessary.'' It 
said Iraq ``was a war-of-choice distraction from the war of necessity 
against al-Qaida.'' As a result of this detour, says the report, the 
U.S. Army is ``near the breaking point.''
  Who can disagree with these findings? With our military tied down in 
Iraq indefinitely, unable to respond to real threats, America is 
weaker, not stronger. We are less secure, not more secure. We are more 
vulnerable, not less vulnerable.
  I was struck, several weeks ago, by a statement from one of our 
colleagues, Congressman Doug Bereuter of Nebraska. Mr. Bereuter is vice 
chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a senior Republican 
member of the House International Relations Committee. Congressman 
Bereuter was a strong supporter of the House resolution authorizing the 
President to go to war. But in a letter to constituents, he now says 
the invasion of Iraq was unjustified and ``it was a mistake to launch 
that military action.'' He said, ``We are immersed in a dangerous, 
costly mess, and there is no easy and quick way to end our 
responsibilities in Iraq without creating bigger future problems in the 
region and, in general, in the Muslim world.''
  Mr. President, how much time do I have?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I will close by saying America is more 
vulnerable, not less; and we need straight answers from this 
administration.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority controls the next 30 
minutes. Who yields time?
  The Senator from Colorado is recognized.

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