[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 132 (Tuesday, October 18, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H8893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE IRAQ WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Paul) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, supporters of the preemptive war against Iraq 
say it was justified by the unprovoked 9/11 attacks. They claim that 
Muslim hatred for our democracy, freedom, Western values, and 
prosperity inspired the 19 suicide terrorists who attacked us on that 
dreadful day.
  Opponents of the war argue that al Qaeda radicals who planned the 
attacks were not allies of Saddam Hussein, and that Iraq posed no 
threat to our national security. They further argue that our occupation 
of Iraq now inspires a growing number of radical Islamists to join the 
ranks of al Qaeda and support its war against U.S. troops in Iraq and 
Afghanistan.
  But proponents of the war insist that our presence in Iraq is not 
what motivates al Qaeda to attack us, since we had no troops on Iraqi 
soil on 9/11; and yet al Qaeda attacked us anyway.
  The enemy, they claim, is simply a group of radical Islamic 
fundamentalists who have hijacked the Muslim religion and declared war 
against our values for no legitimate or logical reason.
  We should look at the facts if we want to understand why a growing 
number of Iraqis and Muslims worldwide are now motivated to join the 
insurgents in a guerrilla resistance that includes suicide terrorism. 
It is true that there were no U.S. troops in Iraq on 9/11, but it is 
also true that Saddam Hussein and Iraq had nothing to do with that 
attack.
  In addition, we have been bombing Iraq since 1991, more than 10 
years, on a regular basis. Stiff economic sanctions imposed on Iraq for 
over a decade by the U.S. and Britain caused extreme suffering and 
death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, many of them 
children.
  Most military experts consider an economic blockade an act of war. We 
insulted and provoked millions of Muslims, especially fundamentalists, 
by keeping a military base in Saudi Arabia after the Persian Gulf War.
  Osama bin Laden specifically expressed outrage at this policy in his 
writings. Throughout the 1980s, we allied ourselves with Saddam 
Hussein, a secularist in his fight against Iran and other Shiite 
fundamentalists.
  We involved ourselves in this civil struggle within the Muslim 
community. For decades, we supported various secular Arab governments 
throughout the region, always in opposition to religious 
fundamentalists. The U.S. never waivered in its enthusiastic support of 
Israel over Arab-Muslim interests.
  For decades Muslim fundamentalists have viewed U.S. policy as being 
driven by religious zealots because of the strong vocal support from 
many fundamentalist Christian leaders.
  For literally hundreds of years, Europe has continually challenged 
Muslim and Arab domination of the Middle East. We have never, Europe or 
the United States, denied our interest in controlling Middle East oil. 
From Woodrow Wilson to the current neoconservative brand of foreign 
policy, the zeal for spreading democracy and Western values through 
force of arms has antagonized most Muslims.

                              {time}  1845

  If we continue to insist that our policy of foreign intervention has 
nothing to do with the ongoing war against an enemy we refuse to 
understand, we guarantee that this war will not soon end.
  My suggestion is to change our foreign policy. Stop the war, bring 
our troops home, and stop the wasteful spending overseas. If we do not, 
the real security of our homeland will continue to be in jeopardy and 
the economic consequences will get worse and our freedoms at home will 
be further reduced.
  It is time to say no to undeclared wars. It is time to say no to 
political and U.N. wars. It is time to say no to preemptive war. It is 
time to say no to nation building. It is time to say no to assuming it 
is our duty to make the world safe for democracy. It is time to say no 
to meddling in the affairs of others. It is time to say no to fighting 
countries that have never threatened our national security. It is time 
to stop financing extravagant war spending by printing more money. It 
is time to say yes to more sensible diplomacy.
  The senseless death and suffering of so many with nothing to show for 
it must end. Peace is a far better goal to strive for than an undefined 
victory in a war that has no end.

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