[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H1171]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, last week, on March 19, our Nation marked a 
somber milestone. We began the fourth year of the Iraqi war. It is 
becoming quite clear that this falsely conceived war is proceeding 
disastrously, with no end in sight. The administration's repugnant use 
of the phrase as bombing began, ``shock and awe,'' has deteriorated 
into a ``knockdown and raw, last man left standing'' war of attrition.
  The situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate precipitously. In the 
last month alone, there has been an escalation of sectarian violence. 
Dozens of suicide bombings, insurgent attacks and the like have left 
almost 1,000 more people dead since a bombing destroyed the dome of 
Samarra's Golden Mosque, a sacred and holy site to Shiite Muslims.
  Iraq is still without a functioning government, as the Iraqi 
parliament has convened just once and for only 30 minutes. Moreover, 
there was an automobile ban in place throughout Baghdad to prevent car 
bombings that same day. A city-wide ban on cars, Mr. Speaker, is not a 
safe city. A nation where journalists cannot travel to report is not a 
safe country.
  Headlines from newspapers around the globe have the same theme, civil 
war in Iraq. The administration, however, does not seem to see it that 
way. The President was in Ohio last week and made the following 
comment: ``Americans look at the violence that they see each night on 
their television screens and wonder how I can remain so optimistic 
about the prospects of success in Iraq. They wonder what I see that 
they do not.''
  Well, I think the President has it the other way around, Mr. Speaker. 
The world sees a lot this President doesn't. Three years ago, we saw 
the administration did not have a plan to win the peace, and he and his 
narrow group of advisers led us down the path to war. We also see what 
he cannot see today, that our presence in Iraq has led to an increase 
in violence and terrorist activities in the Middle East and around the 
world, making us less safe as a nation.
  Three years ago, on the eve of the invasion, I warned, and I quote 
myself, ``Even if we take the ground, we do not share the culture. In 
the end, we have to learn to exist in a world with religious states 
that we may not agree with, and find ways to cooperate.''
  So the President has traded a brutal sectarian regime for an unstable 
nation that looks more and more every day like a dawning theocracy.

                              {time}  2015

  Events in the last few weeks seem to show this is indeed becoming the 
case. By refusing to prepare for the possibility that we would be 
considered occupiers rather than liberators, these architects of this 
war never afforded an opportunity to truly win the peace. Hospitals and 
medical services were ignored. Iraqi organizations open to the West 
were never consulted. Western media was not culturally appropriate 
inside that region. The seeds for unrest were sown before U.S. troops 
even entered Iraq.
  Achieving military success without winning the hearts and minds of 
the public is a hollow victory, and now the President tells us troops 
will remain in Iraq until he leaves office in 2009, who knows when.
  May I remind the body this President held a theatrically staged press 
event on a U.S. aircraft carrier on May 1, 2003, with a ``Mission 
Accomplished'' banner flying in the background. Major combat operations 
in Iraq have ended, he announced.
  Two weeks ago, the United States launched the largest aerial assault 
in Iraq since 2003. More than 1,500 of our soldiers were deploy in the 
Samarra region to root out insurgent strongholds and seize weapons 
caches and the like. That sounds like a major combat operation to me, 
and it sounds like we are losing ground rather than making progress.
  Statements by those in the administration prior to the invasion show 
how wrong the Bush administration has been. Donald Rumsfeld in February 
2003 said, ``It is unknowable how long the conflict will last. It could 
be 6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months.''
  Vice President Cheney in March 2003 said, ``We will, in fact, be 
greeted as liberators. I think it will go relatively quickly . . . (in) 
weeks rather than months.'' We are into the fourth year, almost as long 
as it took to fight World War II.
  The toll this war has taken is staggering. Since March 2003, 2,322 
U.S. soldiers have died, another 18,000 troops have been injured as a 
result of hostilities, with numbers doubling between 2003 and 2004 and 
increasing again in 2005.
  Mr. Speaker, this evening I wish to place in the Record names of 
Ohioans, 104 of them, brave patriots who have died in service to our 
country in Iraq. God bless them.

  Ohioans Dead Through Operation Iraqi Freedom (as of March 4, 2006):

       Anderson, Nathan Richard; Andres, Joseph John Jr.; Barkey, 
     Michael Christopher; Bates, Todd Michael; Bell, Timothy 
     Michael Jr; Benford, Jason A; Bernholtz, Eric James; Biskie, 
     Benjamin Walter; Boskovitch, Jeffrey A; Bourdon, Elvis; 
     Bowen, Samuel Robert; Brownfield, Andrew David; and Buryj, 
     Jesse Ryan.
       Christian, Brett Thomas; Cifuentes, Michael Joseph; 
     Conover, Steven Daniel; Davids, Wesley Graham; Derga, Dustin 
     Alan; Deyarmin, Daniel N Jr; Dixon, Christopher Robert; 
     Dowdy, Robert John; Dyer, Christopher Jenkins; Eckert, Gary 
     Andrew Jr; Eckfield, Robert Franklin Jr; Erdy, Nicholas 
     Brandon; and Etterllng, Jonathan Edward.
       Finke, Michael Wayne Jr; Fitzgerald, Dustin Robert; Ford 
     David, Harrison IV; Garmback, Joseph Martin Jr; Gilbert, 
     Richard Alan Jr; Godwin, Todd Justin; Grella, Devin James; 
     Gurtner, Christian Daniel; Hardy, Richard Allen; Harper, 
     Bradley Jared; Hawkins, Omer Thomas II; Hines, Timothy James 
     Jr; Hodge, Jeremy Michael; and Hoffman, Justin Fenton.
       Ivy, Kendall Howard II; Johnson, Adam Robert; Keeling, 
     Thomas O;Kinney, Lester Ormond II; Kinslow, Anthony David; 
     Knight, Timothy Allen; Knop, Allen James; Kreuter, David 
     Kenneth John; Kuhns, Larry Robert Jr; Landrus, Sean Gregory; 
     Large, Bryan William; and Lyons, Christopher P.
       Martin, Ryan Abern; McVicker, Daniel M; Mendezruiz, David 
     A; Mendoza, Ramon Juan Jr; Messmer, Nicolas Edward; Meyer, 
     Harrison James; Miller, James Hoyt IV; Mitchell, Curtis 
     Anthony; Montgomery, Brian P; Morgan, Richard Lynn Jr; 
     Murray, Jeremy Enlow; Neighbor, Gavin Lee; Nolan, Allen 
     Duane; and Nowacki, Andrew Walter.
       Oberleitner, Branden Frederick; Odums, Charles Edward II; 
     Ott, Kevin Charles; Pintor, Dennis Lloyd; Pratt, Daniel 
     Joseph; Prazynski, Taylor B; Prince, Kevin William; Pummill, 
     Richard Thomas; Ramey, Richard Patrick; Ramsey, Joshua Adam; 
     Reed, Aaron Howard; Reese, Aaron Todd; Rock, Nathaniel S; and 
     Rockhold, Marlin Tyrone.
       Schamberg, Kurt Daniel; Schroeder, Edward August II; Scott, 
     David Allen; Seesan, Aaron N; Seymour, Devon P; Shepherd, 
     Adam Roger; Shepherd, Daniel Michael; Sloan, Brandon Ulysses; 
     Smith, Kevin Scott; Smith, Michael James Jr; Souslin, Kenneth 
     Clarence; Spann, Jacob D; Sparks, Jason Lee; Squires, Brad D; 
     Swaney, Robert Adam; and Swisher, Tyler Bobbitt.
       Tipton, John Edgar; Van Dusen, Brian Keith; Vandayburg, 
     Allen Jeffrey; Webb, Charles Joseph; Wightman, William Brett; 
     Wilkins, Charles Langdon III; Williams, Andre L; Wobler, 
     Zachary Ryan; and Zimmer, Nicholaus Eugene.

 Ohioans Dead Through Operation Enduring Freedom (as of March 4, 2006):

       Egnor, Jody Lynn; Foraker, Ryan Dane; Freeman, Daniel 
     Jason; Goare, Shamus Otto; Good, Alecia Sabrina; Hickey, 
     Julie Rochelle; Jones, Darrell Ray Jr; McDaniel, William 
     Louis II; Oneill, Michael Christopher; and Owens, Bartt 
     Derek.

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