[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 9 (Wednesday, February 2, 2005)]
[House]
[Pages H329-H330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          SMART SECURITY AND THE CASE FOR LEAVING IRAQ, PART 4

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, first, I want to congratulate the 
courageous Iraqi people who participated in last Sunday's election to 
nominate legislators to write Iraq's Constitution.
  My congressional district gets it when it comes to the importance of 
elections to our democracy. In November's Presidential election, a 
record 89.5 percent of registered voters in Marin and Sonoma Counties 
turned out to vote.
  The problem is that irresponsible behavior has been a guiding 
principle of the administration's behavior in leading the Nation to war 
in Iraq. This has been a dishonest war from the word go. The President 
said he had heard evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, yet 
to date no weapons of mass destruction have been found. President Bush 
himself has officially called off the hunt for weapons of mass 
destruction.
  The Iraq invasion has made the Middle East a more violent and 
unstable

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place, and it has made America less secure at home by creating a 
terrorist breeding ground in a country that was not a haven for 
terrorist organizations like al Qaeda before we invaded it. The sad 
irony is that after our Nation was attacked on 9/11 by al Qaeda, the 
Bush administration's response was to bomb and kill civilians in one of 
the few countries in the Middle East that was inhospitable to al Qaeda.
  Mr. Speaker, there is no justice in an operation based purely on 
ideological reasons, reasons that caused the deaths of more than 1,400 
Americans and untold thousands of Iraqis, not to mention well more than 
10,000 American troops injured and very, very severely wounded.
  So now that Iraq's elections are completed, we in the United States 
must ensure that the people of Iraq control their own affairs as Iraq 
transitions toward democracy. In fact, Sunday's election in Iraq gives 
the United States yet another opportunity to get back on track in Iraq. 
We can do this by supporting the Iraqi people, not through our military 
but through international cooperation to help rebuild Iraq's economic 
and physical infrastructure. We owe this to the people of Iraq, people 
who are being killed by the thousands, and to our troops who are 
sitting ducks for terrorists.
  Last week, I introduced H. Con. Res. 35 with 24 original cosponsors, 
legislation that will help secure Iraq for the future and ensure that 
America's role in Iraq actually does make America safer. My plan for 
Iraq is part of a larger, smarter security strategy, which is a 
sensible multilateral, American response to terrorism that will ensure 
America's security by relying on smarter policies.
  The withdrawal plan I have proposed includes four major components.
  First, develop and implement a plan to begin the immediate withdrawal 
of U.S. troops from Iraq. The soldiers who have died in Iraq leave 
behind grieving loved ones whose lives will never be the same because 
of the war in Iraq. The best way to support our troops is to remove 
them from harm's way.
  Second, develop and implement a plan for the reconstruction of Iraq's 
civil and economic infrastructure. The United States has a moral 
responsibility to clean up the mess we made in Iraq, but that 
responsibility needs to be fulfilled not by our military but by 
humanitarian groups and companies that will help rebuild Iraq's 
infrastructure, and not through no-bid contracts to companies like 
Halliburton and Bechtel.
  Third, convene an emergency meeting of leadership, Iraq's neighbors, 
the United Nations, and the Arab League to create an international 
peacekeeping force in Iraq and to replace U.S. military forces with 
Iraqi police and National Guard forces to ensure Iraq's security.
  Iraq's security problems are still the most serious cause for concern 
in the country, and Iraq requires an international peacekeeping force 
to address this problem, not the United States military. A peacekeeping 
force supported by Iraq's neighbors and the global community will 
provide real legitimacy to a conflict that has flown in the face of 
international law from its very beginning.
  Fourth, take all steps to provide the Iraqi people with opportunity 
to control their internal affairs. The Iraqi people cannot truly 
control their own affairs until the United States military has ceded 
back authority to the Iraqi people. That is why it is essential for 
Iraq's police and National Guard forces to manage Iraq's security, not 
the United States military.
  Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. We should not abandon Iraq. There is 
still a critical role for the United States in providing the 
developmental aid that can help create a robust civil society, build 
schools and water processing plants and ensure that Iraq's economic 
infrastructure becomes fully viable.
  In the end, this is the smarter option and we must begin always 
taking the smarter path if we are to succeed in Iraq.

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