[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 92 (Monday, July 11, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H5618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 SMART SECURITY AND THE LONDON BOMBINGS

  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, so much for President Bush's claim that we 
are fighting the terrorists in Iraq so that we do not have to fight 
them at home.
  The recent tragic terrorist attacks in London disproved that flawed 
theory. On its very face, the notion that we are fighting the 
terrorists in Iraq so we do not have to fight them at home is 
absolutely absurd. For one thing, anyone who thinks the threat of 
terrorism is not a multipronged threat is kidding himself or herself. 
That is why it is called global terrorism in the first place. Because 
the terrorists have the capacity and the will to strike anywhere any 
time.
  As we strive to prevent terrorism in the Western world, we must not 
forget the terrorism that takes the lives of innocent Iraqis on a daily 
basis. And we must not forget the terrorism in Iraq is, for the most 
part, of our very own creation. Despite claims from the White House, 
there is simply no evidence to support the idea that the Iraq 
insurgency had ties to international terrorist organizations like al 
Qaeda before the United States invaded.
  Sure, al Qaeda is doing its best to align the Iraq insurgents now, 
but would that have happened if the U.S. had not invaded Iraq in 2003? 
It is clear that the President's notion of taking the fight to the 
terrorists instead of letting them take the fight to the U.S. is yet 
another example of the Bush administration twisting public perception 
to portray the war in Iraq as linked to 9/11.
  The truth is that no such link exists. Logic such as this damages our 
credibility with other nations and hampers our ability to address the 
truth with facts in the first place. It is clear that the war in Iraq 
hurts our efforts to combat terrorism in several ways: First, by 
draining personnel and resources and next by engaging in policies that 
give the Iraqi people a reason, a legitimate reason for anger aimed at 
the United States. With the United States appearing as an occupier and 
with our troops blamed for destroying Iraqi communities and harming 
innocent people, the Iraqi people are becoming our enemy and many are 
joining the insurgency.
  We have already spent over $200 billion on this war. And with $9 
billion of this lost by the Coalition Provisional Authority, and worse, 
nearly 2,000 American soldiers have been killed, and dozens more are 
being killed by insurgent attacks every single week, while another 
15,000 soldiers have been gravely injured and thousands and thousands 
of innocent Iraqis are gone.
  What do we have to show for these devastating losses? What has been 
accomplished? Very little, I am sad to say. Despite the thousands of 
deaths and injuries, and the billions of dollars spent, the United 
States has failed to make Iraq secure. We have failed to stabilize the 
Middle East.
  And as the London bombings demonstrated, we have failed to prevent 
the terrorists from striking Western cities. The London attacks could 
have just as easily been New York or Washington, D.C. or San Francisco; 
so it is not just that we failed in Iraq. This failure has corresponded 
with failures to secure the U.S. right here at home.
  It is time for the United States to begin the process to bring our 
brave men and women home from Iraq. By beginning this process, we will 
not only give the Iraqi people the opportunity to move forward; we will 
also save the lives of countless American soldiers, and we will free up 
our resources for protecting Americans right here at home, which is in 
line with the SMART Security approach.
  SMART is a security platform that I have introduced in Congress to 
provide a Sensible Multilateral American Response to Terrorism. SMART 
emphasizes homeland security, and instead of aggressively throwing our 
military weight around the globe, SMART depends on diplomacy and good 
international relations.
  It is clear that the war in Iraq has not made the United States 
safer, but actually less safe. Ending the war and giving Iraq back to 
the Iraqi people, who went to the polls to take control of their own 
country, will be a great first step in preventing future terrorism.
  Ending the war will help protect our Nation. We are already 2 years 
behind time in making this happen, 2 years too late. Let U.S. start 
catching up. Let the U.S. start now.

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