[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 149 (Thursday, November 10, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12637-S12638]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     EXTENSION OF MORNING BUSINESS

  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the period 
of morning business be extended another 5 or 6 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, reserving the right to object, could 
the time be evenly divided? I will not object if he wants to add time 
but that it be for both sides.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I am delighted to do that. We will have 
a 6-minute extension on each side in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, if the Senator will entertain a 
question, we will allocate my time on the question, as I propound it, 
and to the extent he responds will be on his time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I was grievously concerned when the 
Senator said we are locked down in a quagmire in Iraq. I have made a 
number of trips there and completed a trip there several weeks ago with 
Senator Stevens and Senator John Kerry.
  Our troops are not in a quagmire. They are fighting a very courageous 
war against international terrorism. The movement sparked by Osama bin 
Laden, Zarqawi, and others is a worldwide movement. It goes from Spain 
to Indonesia. And they have selected, in the last 6 or 8, maybe a 
year's time, Iraq as the focal point to where they will challenge the 
free nations of the world in this struggle against terrorism.
  By no means, by no stretch of any measure of military analysis, can 
it be said that our troops are bogged down in a quagmire. They are 
fully mobile. They are working better than ever with the Iraqi security 
forces, largely trained by the coalition forces, who are now fighting 
side by side with coalition forces and engaging the enemy wherever they 
can find them.
  Iraq is a nation with vast borders which are unsecure. There is 
really no way to secure them to the point you can stop total 
infiltration. But these infiltrations of insurgents throughout the 
world are responding to a worldwide challenge to the free nations. We 
awakened in the last few days, or in just 24 hours or less, to an 
attack in Jordan, again sparked by the worldwide move in terrorism, 
against the Kingdom of Jordan.
  So I say to my friend, I would hope that this comment about ``in a 
quagmire'' is not relative to the courageous performance of the men and 
women of the Armed Forces in this war on terrorism in Iraq. They are 
fully mobile. They are selecting their field of battle. They are 
assisted by the Iraqi forces. And they are taking a toll on the 
terrorists.
  I ask my colleague, do you disagree with that analysis?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.

[[Page S12638]]

  Mr. KENNEDY. Well, Madam President, I have nothing but the highest 
regard and respect for those who are involved in the conflict and 
fighting for the United States. I regret sometimes that we have not 
provided them with the military equipment that we should have. But I 
have the highest regard and respect for the Armed Forces of the United 
States, and I have supported, and will continue to support, to make 
sure they have the equipment they need to carry on their mission. They 
are all heroes.
  The question is the policy. At some time, I will respond, whenever--
Madam President, what is the time allocation now?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia has 3 minutes, the 
Senator from Massachusetts has 5 minutes.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Fine. Well, that will be the answer. When the Senator is 
finished, I will be glad to respond generally to his theme.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I am perfectly willing to, at this point 
in time, conclude this colloquy. I certainly feel I have had adequate 
opportunity to make my point. So unless the Senator so desires, we will 
proceed on with the bill.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Well, I will make a brief comment in response to the 
general statement that the Senator made and use my own time. And then 
the Senator can use whatever time.
  Madam President, we were attacked on 9/11. We were attacked by Osama 
bin Laden. Where is Osama bin Laden today? Since 9/11 we have not 
captured him. The focus and attention was in Afghanistan. Nonetheless, 
this administration took us to war in Iraq. At that time, we had al-
Qaida effectively by the throat and instead we lost that opportunity 
and now have ourselves bogged down in Iraq. That happens to be the 
fact. We have not enhanced the war against terror by being in Iraq. I 
think we made Iraq a training ground for terrorists.
  So I differ with my friend and colleague. I think the job should have 
been finished in Afghanistan. That is where Osama bin Laden has been. 
But the idea that the President of the United States--as I illustrated 
in 15 minutes of direct quotes; and I will not repeat them--brought the 
United States to war on the basis of the dangers that Saddam Hussein 
had a nuclear weapon and there was a tie between Saddam Hussein and al-
Qaida is basically wrong. That is not the Senator from Massachusetts 
saying that. That is the 9/11 Commission saying that.
  Now, what is so wrong about trying to get the facts on this? The 
reason to get the facts and the reason it is so important--with the 
Rockefeller effort and the efforts by my friends, the Senators from 
Michigan and California, to get the facts--is because we do not want to 
repeat that. We have a dangerous situation in Iran. We have a dangerous 
situation in North Korea. We do not want to duplicate the mistakes that 
this country took with its leaders. We do not want to duplicate that. 
That is why this report is so important.
  Madam President, I stand by my statement that I think that the war in 
Iraq was a grave mistake, that the American people were misled, and 
that there is ultimately not going to be a military solution. There is 
the quagmire: a military solution to solve the problem in Vietnam, a 
military solution to try and solve the problem in Iraq. It is not going 
to work.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I will simply state to my colleague and 
fellow member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that it is well 
recognized that certain intelligence that was used by not only our 
President but the Prime Minister of Great Britain, the President of 
France--we could go on and on--was universally accepted at that point 
in time. History has shown that a good deal of that intelligence turned 
out to be inaccurate.
  But there were many reasons for going to war in Iraq, not the least 
of which our forces were trying to enforce the United Nations 
resolution prohibiting Iraq from taking certain actions to the north 
and to the south.
  They were actually firing on our aircraft that were trying to patrol 
and enforce U.N. resolutions. Saddam Hussein ignored consecutive 
resolutions of the United Nations. That whole structure was before the 
world, and he was flaunting it.
  Most recently, I note that the United Nations Security Council has 
extended the basis on which operations are now being conducted by the 
coalition of forces in Iraq today.
  With regard to the administration, I commend the administration for 
putting out, for example, this report called ``The Special Inspector 
General for Iraq and Reconstruction.'' It is very truthful with the 
American people and, indeed, the world on the successes and the lack of 
success in certain areas. This administration is being accountable for 
its participation as one of the several nations in the coalition in 
putting the facts down. But when the Senator says it is all for naught, 
I say to myself, Iraq is in a struggle to establish its own government. 
We have just seen the referendum on the constitution. They have adopted 
the constitution. The constitution is subject to further rework as the 
next government stands up in the aftermath of the December 15 
elections--free elections, free elections that have not taken place in 
Iraq in several decades. Much has been accomplished to try to stabilize 
that nation to enable it to select, by the freedom to vote, its own 
government and the degree to which it wishes to join the rest of the 
nations in exploring the challenges of democracy, particularly in that 
area of the world.
  I salute the men and women of the Armed Forces who have made this 
possible. Yes, we always hope that diplomacy can solve the disputes 
between nations. Diplomacy can be no stronger than the will to back it 
up and enforce the decisions of the diplomats. That has been done 
bravely by the men and women of the Armed Forces of the United States 
and other coalition forces.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, the definition of a quagmire is a 
complex or precarious position where disengagement is difficult. That 
says it, in regard to Iraq. This body understood the reason we went to 
war with Iraq was because this administration represented that Saddam 
Hussein had a nuclear weapon or was on the brink of getting nuclear 
weapons and, secondly, had ties with al-Qaida. Others may draw from 
another part of history, but I stand by that. Both of those facts are 
not so. It is important that we understand how we came about using 
those facts, which we see are not so, to make sure we are not going to 
make those mistakes in the future.
  I yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. WARNER. Madam President, parliamentary inquiry as to the status 
of the Senate at this time.

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