[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 148 (Wednesday, November 9, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12556-S12558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   RATIFICATION OF IRAQ CONSTITUTION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, normally I don't get an opportunity to 
hear my good friend from Illinois, but I am glad I was here as he gave 
one of his appraisals of the situation in Iraq. As Paul Harvey often 
says, I would like to provide the rest of the story; arguably, a more 
balanced view of what is going on in that very important country.
  In fact, freedom has taken another giant step forward in Iraq. On 
October 15 the Iraqi people voted overwhelmingly to ratify their 
Constitution. Iraqis turned out in stunning numbers to embrace 
democracy, tolerance, and a just rule under law. In fact, they turned 
out in greater numbers than we turned out here last November, which was 
a very high turnout by U.S. standards--and, of course, most Americans 
were not afraid they would get shot when they went to the polls.
  Iraqis created a constitutional republic in the heart of the Middle 
East. This is an unequivocal victory in the war on terror. It is the 
only way we can assess it. With their votes, millions of brave Iraqis 
rejected dictatorship and created a republic. They rejected rule by 
fear and terror and embraced rule by the consent of the governed. They 
stood together as a country under one motto: ``we the people.''
  Nearly 10 million Iraqis turned out to vote, a turnout rate of 63 
percent. That

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was up from 60 percent last January when they elected their interim 
government. That was 3 percent higher than our own turnout here last 
November, 60 percent, which was 10 percent higher than our turnout here 
in 2000, which was 50 percent. Again, I say, those Iraqis, many of 
them, might have been concerned about their safety when they went to 
vote. That was the first free election in Iraq in over 50 years last 
January.
  Furthermore, and very significantly, turnout among Sunni Arabs 
increased dramatically. This is a testament that the policy of 
continued political outreach to influential Sunni leaders during the 
constitutional drafting process was a success.
  For instance, in the heavily Sunni province of Salahaddeen in the 
city of Ishaqi, only 300 people voted last January in the interim 
election vote. This time around, on the Constitution, on October 15, 
10,000 Iraqis voted. Three hundred in January, 10,000 in October, 
largely Sunnis. This is only one city, but the turnout was up 
dramatically. Many in the Sunni population obviously decided their 
interests are best served not by fighting an armed insurgency but by 
joining the political process.
  Not only did Iraqis turn out in record numbers, they also voted to 
ratify their new organizing document in overwhelming numbers. The final 
results show over 78 percent of Iraqi voters said yes to the 
Constitution. Of Iraq's 18 provinces, 12 voted yes with majorities 
exceeding 94 percent. Three more provinces voted yes with solid 
majorities, including the province of Baghdad. In the Baghdad province, 
77 percent ratified the Constitution.
  The Iraqi Government decided that for the Constitution to fail, at 
least three provinces had to vote ``no'' with at least two-thirds of 
the vote. Only two provinces did that, the Anbar province and the 
province I mentioned earlier, Salahaddeen.
  The democratic process in Iraq will continue to move forward. Iraqis 
are now preparing for another nationwide election pursuant to the 
Constitution they ratified. That election on December 15 will be for 
the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. They will 
choose 275 members of a council of representatives to serve all the 
people of Iraq.
  It is odd to me that at such a moment of triumph in that country, 
there are still those who call for America to get out while we can in 
the midst of this triumph that is occurring there. They believe our 
troop withdrawal should be arbitrarily based on the calendar rather 
than on achieving results. In short, they want to cut and run. And 
until we do, they will endlessly criticize our troops' efforts but 
offer no alternatives of their own.
  It is important to remember to withdraw prematurely from Iraq, as the 
cut-and-run crowd suggests, would play right into the hands of the 
terrorists. The terrorists themselves have already told us that. They 
have told us what they have in mind. In a letter our intelligence 
forces intercepted, written by Ayman al-Zawahiri, the No. 2 terrorist 
in the al-Qaida hierarchy, and sent to lead Iraqi terrorist Abu Musab 
al-Zarqawi, we learn that the terrorists' foremost goal is to drive 
America out of Iraq. No great surprise.
  Here is how al-Zawahiri instructs his partner in villainy:

       [T]he Jihad in Iraq requires several incremental goals.
       The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.

  No surprise.
       The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority . . . in 
     order to fill the void stemming from the departure of the 
     Americans, immediately upon their exit and before un-Islamic 
     forces attempt to fill this void.
       The third stage: Extend the Jihad wave to the secular 
     countries neighboring Iraq.

  So they clearly not only want Iraq, they want to spread this plague 
into the countries surrounding Iraq.
  Al-Zawahiri goes on to say:

       The mujahedeen must not have their mission end with the 
     expulsion of the Americans from Iraq . . . their ongoing 
     mission is to establish an Islamic state, and defend it, and 
     for every generation to hand over the banner to the one after 
     it until the Hour of Resurrection . . . Americans will exit 
     soon, God willing.

  Those are chilling words from our enemies.
  Their plans are laid bare for all of us to see. They want us to cut 
and run. Worse still, they expect it. And then they will turn Iraq into 
a terrorist haven.
  Al-Zawahiri realizes that the terrorists can never hope to defeat 
America on the battlefield. The only way they can defeat us is by 
undermining our resolve with continued suicide bombings, gruesome 
beheadings performed for the camera, and guerilla sneak attacks, all 
brought to American living rooms through the media.
  The terrorists believe they can shape American policy--policy 
determined, in part, by this chamber--by killing Americans, because 
they have successfully done so before. In 1983, terrorists killed 241 
Americans in Beirut, and American forces were withdrawn from Beirut as 
a result.
  And America did not take the threat of terrorism seriously after the 
first bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993, nor did we take it 
seriously after the destruction of our embassies in Tanzania and Kenya 
in 1998, nor did we take it seriously after the attack on the USS Cole 
in 2000.
  The terrorists believe that our determination to fight them now, 
after 9/11, is the exception rather than the rule. They believe that 
eventually we will tire, falter, and fail in this fight.
  We must make plain for them--in a language they can understand--that 
they are gravely mistaken.
  America is not going to cut and run before the job is done. For our 
own security, for the security of the Iraqi people, and for the 
security of the world, we must defeat the terrorists and leave behind a 
strong, stable, and secure democratic Iraq.
  The terrorists are rightfully scared because America is fighting and 
winning the war on terror. We have made incredible progress in Iraq in 
2\1/2\ short years.
  I think we ought to take a look at the progress that has been made.
  Taking note of this chart, Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979 and 
was in power from 1979 to 2003. What were the hallmarks of those 24 
years for the people of Iraq? Over 4,000 political prisoners were 
summarily executed--one of his great accomplishments; 50,000 Kurds 
killed, many of them with chemical weapons; 395,000 people were forced 
to leave Iraq during that 24-year period.
  They had to get out or be killed.
  Iraq had no free elections and no free newspapers, and Saddam Hussein 
stood above the law.
  What has happened in the 2\1/2\ years since Saddam Hussein's fall 
from power? Iraqis are now innocent until proven guilty. They have a 
legal system. Seventy-five Kurds have been elected to the legislature, 
as compared to 50,000 Kurds getting killed during Saddam's regime. Over 
270,000 of those Iraqis who had to leave the country--of the 395,000 
who were forced to flee Iraq--have come back home to build a new free 
Iraq, and 9.8 million people voted on the constitution on October 15. 
They weren't any free elections for 24 years under Saddam. They have 
over 100 free newspapers--100 free newspapers in Iraq now. They have 
more competition probably than we do, with freedom of speech breaking 
out all over Iraq.
  Hussein, who stood above the law, now is on trial, subject to the law 
in Iraq.
  That sums up the progress that has been made. The 24-year period of 
terror is over and a new democratic, free Iraq is emerging.
   Before I leave the floor, I want to offer my colleagues some words 
of bravery from ordinary Iraqis, as an antidote to the al-Zawahiri 
letter I read earlier. These are the people who defied al-Zawahiri and 
al-Zarqawi to vote for the free future of their country. What these 
courageous people have to say should convince anybody that the Iraqis 
understand and are willing to pay the price of freedom.
  Here is what one fellow had to say:

       `I have not forgotten the mass graves and the torture and 
     the killings,' said Abdul Hussein Ahmed of Najaf. `Five 
     members of my family were killed by Saddam and his people. 
     But now, with this constitution, everyone is equal under the 
     law.'

  Munthir Abbas Elaiwi of Baghdad agrees.

       `[The constitution] will bring all that is good for the 
     people, such as stability, democracy and peace. With such a 
     charter, we will show the world that we are a civilized 
     nation, not a bunch of ignorant and bloodthirsty extremists.'


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  That is from one of the Iraqis participating in the progress. And if 
any terrorists think the people of Iraq do not hold their new republic 
dear, let them heed the words of Munthir's older brother, Naseer Abbas, 
also of Baghdad. He states quite simply: ``We are ready to defend this 
constitution with our blood.''
  Iraqis are our partners in the war on terror, and they understand the 
magnitude of our shared cause. They realize the power a thriving 
democracy in the heart of the Middle East can have as a counter-example 
to tyrannical regimes like Iran, whose President recently called for 
Israel to be ``wiped off the face of the Earth.'' The Iraqis have 
embraced liberty, and rejected the homicidal urgings of terrorists. I 
hope my colleagues will join me in saluting them and their commitment 
to freedom.
  Tyrannical leaders who repress their people much as Saddam Hussein 
once did the Iraqis should make no mistake: The people in your country 
are looking at Iraq and wondering, ``Why not here? Why not now?''
  The terrorists do not have the right answers to those questions. 
Americans, and Iraqis, do.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cornyn). The Senator from Pennsylvania.

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