[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 23 (Tuesday, February 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE DETERIORATING SITUATION IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise tonight to address the deteriorating 
situation in Iraq. Over the past 10 days, we have seen a country on the 
brink of civil war slide into civil war.
  On February 22, a bomb exploded at the Golden Mosque causing 
significant damage to one of Shiite Islam's holiest shrines and setting 
off the latest and most violent sectarian violence since the war began 
in 2003.
  Since the war began, we have witnessed almost daily bombings in Iraq. 
Thousands of IEDs have been exploded. Hundreds of suicide bombings have 
been staged. Tragically, the number of such attacks has grown each 
year, a stark contrast to the Vice President's prewar assessment that 
we would be greeted as liberators.
  According to the U.S. Department of Defense, the number of insurgent 
attacks on our soldiers, Iraqi security forces, and civilians increased 
29 percent in 2005 when compared to 2004. Specifically, the number of 
car bombs increased to 873 in 2005, more than twice of the number of 
car bombs in 2004, and the number of suicide car bombs went to 411 from 
133.
  Conservative estimates suggest that more than 30,000 Iraqi men, women 
and children have been killed since the war began. Unfortunately, 
Iraqis are not the only ones caught up in these attacks. More than 
2,296 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq and more than 16,825 have been 
injured. And I am sorry, I do not have the number of amputees or 
suicides tonight. But they are serious.
  Our very presence in Iraq fuels the death, destruction and has helped 
create the civil war which now endangers millions of lives. These are 
not just my words. The same thoughts and sentiments are being echoed 
throughout conservative America.
  It was said here earlier tonight, William F. Buckley, Jr., the 
founder of ``The National Review'' recently wrote, ``One cannot doubt 
that the American objective in Iraq has failed.''
  Bill Kristol, one of the war's staunchest defenders recently said, 
``We have not had a serious 3-year effort to fight a war in Iraq.''
  Even columnist George Will recently described Iraq in this manner. 
``This is a civil war,'' he said.
  The bombing of the Golden Mosque pushed Iraq over the edge. Thousands 
of Iraqis are in the streets protesting and others are attacking their 
historical enemies in retaliation to the bombing of the Golden Mosque.
  According to today's Washington Post, more than 1,300 individuals 
have been killed, and more than 1,000 Sunni mosques have been attacked 
since last week's bombing of the Golden Mosque. Instead of putting a 
stop to the violence, Iraq's security forces are contributing to the 
murders. It is clear that some Iraqis have joined the Iraq Army to 
continue family or tribal feuds under the protection of the Iraqi 
military uniform and that many Iraqis do not trust the military because 
of ethnic divisions.
  This is a stark difference from the President's words that the Iraqis 
are successfully assuming the role of protecting their fellow 
countrymen. It is very interesting to note that the very week that Iraq 
has seen the most violent sectarian violence in years, the Defense 
Department announced that the number of Iraqi Army battalions capable 
of fighting the insurgency without U.S. help had fallen from one to 
none since September 2005.
  Last summer, a defense official claimed that there were three 
battalions ready to take on the insurgency. However, in September 2005, 
General George Casey, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told the Senate 
Armed Services Committee that the number of Iraqi battalions capable of 
fighting independently of U.S. troops had dropped from three to one. 
Therefore, despite 3 years and more than $260 billion, we find that the 
number continues to decrease.
  Now, the President is asking Congress to pass a supplemental 
appropriations request of $75 billion for the Iraq war, the war on 
terrorism, and the gulf coast recovery efforts. The lion's share of 
this money, about $63 billion, is for the Iraq war. If this bill 
passes, the total amount we will have spent on the war will be over 
$350 billion.
  The President is asking us to spend $350 billion a war that his 
Administration claimed would be of minimal cost to American taxpayers.
  Perhaps worse, the President wants to spend hundreds of billions of 
dollars on this war at a time when the Congress is pushing through tens 
of billions of dollars in cuts to Medicare, education, Community 
Development Block Grants and other important programs.
  Mr. Speaker, the Administration has failed. It is long past time for 
our troops to come home. Civil war has broken out--we can not expect 
our soldiers to try to sort out which side is which in this civil war 
and we should not take sides. I urge the President to conclude this war 
and bring our troops home.

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