[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 45 (Monday, April 24, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3429-S3431]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IRAQ UPDATE
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I am always distressed with the media and
the way they are misrepresenting what is going on in Iraq, and
particularly the accomplishments this last weekend. It is hard to
believe.
On Saturday, the Iraqi Parliament, which was elected last December,
convened to fill the top Government leadership positions. Exemplifying
the democratic traditions beginning to take root in Iraq, the Iraqi
Parliament successfully negotiated these nominees, clearing the way for
the first permanent, popularly elected Government in Iraq's history.
The first permanent, popularly elected Government in Iraq's history--
that is mind boggling.
In addition, I want to commend our soldiers in the theater. Without
their brave efforts, this progress would have been impossible.
I just returned from my 11th trip to the Iraqi AOR. I come back, and
I remember the stories that are told by our different troops there.
Some of the things they come up with are amazing--the anecdotal things,
stories that are comparable to the stories we heard back during World
War II.
American soldiers continue to clear out terrorist strongholds,
allowing democracy a chance to flourish. The accomplishments of
American soldiers have permitted Iraqis the opportunity to vote and
elect a parliament that has now produced leaders of this nation's
national unity government. It has been a long road getting to this
point, and we have further to go. There are some major hurdles these
new leaders must keep in mind. These are Iraqi leaders. These are the
elected leaders. For the first time in Iraq's history, they must build
consensus for reigning in the militias, protecting critical
infrastructure such as oil pipelines, preserving human rights for all
Iraqi citizens, implementing necessary reforms to revive the civil
economy, and, perhaps most importantly, the new leaders must inspire
confidence in the permanent Government.
While what these seven nominees put forward on Saturday represents a
huge political breakthrough, challenges lie ahead for both Iraq's new
leadership and our troops stationed there. Our best men and women
continue to serve valiantly in some of the most trying conditions. Some
have been gravely wounded, and some have paid the ultimate price. The
question you hear quite often is, they say, Is it worth it? It is
impossible for me to answer that question on an individual basis, when
you think about the depth of suffering of a wife or a child or a
father, the loss of a loved one. I mourn that we have lost even one
life, but I do not regret the cause in which that life is lost.
I will say that as America's elected leaders, we have been chosen to
use our best judgment in these most difficult choices. Throughout
history people have chosen to take an uncompromising stand in what they
believe in. They have done this because they understand some things are
so valuable that we must risk everything to preserve them.
Can the cost of preserving freedom ever be too great? That is a
question I wrestle with day and night. As I do, I am sure other members
of our Government and military leaders do the same.
I know freedom cannot be imposed, but I also know the thirst for it
cannot be quenched. If September 11 showed us anything, it was that we
affect and are affected by the rest of the world. Standing by and
hoping for the best is not an option. When it comes to fighting
terrorism around the world, we are involved, whether we like it or not,
and the quicker we wake up to this reality, the better chance we have
at setting
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things on the right course. The American public must be as resolute in
this mission as our troops on the ground.
President Bush has stood stalwartly behind our troops and the Iraqi
people and measurable progress has been achieved. It would be
appropriate to list a few of these. You don't get this from the media,
so you are going to have to get it from the floor, from those who have
been over there personally and witnessed things happening.
Iraq's first Ambassador to the United States in 15 years presented
his credentials to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a State
Department ceremony on April 11.
The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq calculated that nearly
11.9 million Iraqis--approximately 75 percent--voted in the December
2005 elections. This represents an increase of about 4 million voters
from the January 2005 election.
Since June 2004, when the Coalition transferred sovereignty, Iraqi
people elected an interim government in January 2005, drafted and
ratified a constitution in October 2005, and elected a 4-year,
constitutionally based Government in December 2005.
There have been strong, positive economic changes as well. Iraq's
economy is recovering after 30 years of dictatorship and lack of
infrastructure maintenance. In 2005, the Iraqi economy grew an
estimated 3 percent in real terms. The International Monetary Fund
anticipates the Iraqi economy will grow by more than 10 percent in
2006. Certainly the Presiding Officer, one of the greatest economists
of this body, understands the significance of the accomplishments in
the economy of Iraq.
Under Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraqis' standard of living
deteriorated rapidly. Iraq's per capita income dropped from $3,800 in
1980--higher than Spain at that time--to $715 in 2002, which is lower
than Angola. Today economic recovery is picking up, with gross domestic
product growing from $18.9 billion in 2002 to $33.1 billion in 2005.
Before liberation, Iraq's cities suffered from inadequate sewage
systems. The United States has helped Iraqis build or repair sewage
treatment plants for 5.1 million Iraqis. U.S.-funded projects have
improved access to clean water for 3.1 million people.
You almost have go to there and see these people, and see what they
are doing now that they say they couldn't have done. It is very
difficult for an American to walk through the streets--whether it is
Tikrit, Fallujah, Baghdad, or anywhere else--without people running up
to you and saying my daughter can now get married, our girls can now go
to school, now we have water we can drink, now we have a sewage system
that we haven't had since the end of the regime of Saddam Hussein.
I think the greatest miracle of Iraq which the ``cut and run'' caucus
refuses to acknowledge has been the performance of the security forces.
Coalition military commanders are focused on developing Iraqi police
forces, and are helping Iraqis develop a disciplined force that
protects the rights of all Iraqis. One-hundred thirty Iraqi Minister of
Defense combat battalions are now rising up from just a handful in
August 2004. Of the 110 bases operated by Coalition forces, 34 have
been closed and transferred to the Iraqis. That is something we have to
understand. We were manning 100 percent of the bases of operation, and
a third are now being taken care of by the Iraqis.
Thirteen Iraqi brigade headquarters and fifty battalions have assumed
battle space. They are taking care of their own battle space. Iraqi
forces control 65 percent of Baghdad.
I recall meeting General Madhi in Fallujah. At that time he had been
working as a brigade commander for Saddam Hussein. He hated Americans
until Saddam came down and General Madhi became the brigade commander
for security forces in Fallujah. He started training with the Marines
in Fallujah. They call it embedded training. They get in there with
him. They worked together and they became so close that when we rotated
the Marines out of Fallujah, they got together and they cried.
That same general, General Madhi, was transferred to Baghdad where he
took over the security, starting from the east to the western part of
Baghdad, and now has control of 65 percent of the eastern part of
Baghdad. We do not have Americans doing that. We have Iraqis doing
that. There are more than 250,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security
forces, up from 115,000 16 months ago.
I stood here 3 months ago and talked about my experiences with the
commanders in the field. They have a good answer to the question that
keeps being asked each Member of the Senate: When will they be on their
own and handle their own security? How long will it be? Not many
politicians want to give the answer to something like that. I don't
mind doing it because I think it is a good idea of what the answer is.
I remember talking to the commanders in the field over the last
several years and they have consistently said if we get to the point
where we can have 11 divisions of Iraqis trained and equipped--that
translates to 325,000--they will be ready to take over their own
security. That does not mean all Americans will leave. We still have
American troops and an American presence in Bosnia, Kosovo, Sinai, and
other places, but they are not doing the security there.
At that time when we get to the point where they have 11 divisions,
which should be by the end of this year, or at the very latest by
midyear of the following year, they will be able to handle their own
security.
Something heretofore considered to be virtually impossible is going
to happen. One of the main problems with this war is how the media is
focused on weapons of mass destruction. We never should have been
talking about weapons of mass destruction. We know Saddam Hussein had
weapons of mass destruction. We know that some 4,000 of their own
people were killed with weapons of mass destruction. We know in the 8-
year Iran-Iraq war, over 100,000 Iranians were killed with weapons of
mass destruction. We know they had them. There is no question. That was
not the important thing.
The important thing in Iraq is that the most sophisticated training
was taking place, training people to be sophisticated terrorists in
cities such as Samarra, Ramadi, and Salman Pak, where they had the
major trading areas. They are not training anymore. One Iraqi defector,
CAPT Sabah Khodada, observed foreign Arabs being trained in hijackings,
kidnapping of airplanes, trains, public buses, planting explosives in
cities, and suicide operations. It could very well be most likely that
is where the training took place that caused their successful attack on
America's soil on September 11. Very likely it was. That is what they
were teaching at that time.
We went into Iraq and we confiscated 2 million ``exploitable''
documents that we are still analyzing. Some of the documents have
already proven the existence of the camps.
I want to lay out the facts. We know Saddam was giving money to the
Palestinian families of suicide bombers. We know Saddam violated
numerous U.N. resolutions since the end of Operation Desert Storm. We
know the air defense forces would regularly shoot at our airplanes. We
know he tortured, abused, murdered, and massacred many thousands of his
own people.
I ask a very important question. Where would we be now if we had not
gone into Iraq? The answer will be left up to history to decide.
Probably we will never know. We know we have not been attacked on our
territory since September 11. My own personal belief is the work we
have done, the successes in Iraq have been responsible for that great
victory.
I returned from my 11th trip to the Iraqi AOR. I met with the people
over there, including General Madhi. However, the cut-and-run caucus
can only think of surrender. They are still out there. Recent casualty
rates exposed the insurgents' true intentions.
A lot of people are concerned, as I am, about the Americans, but if
you see what has happened in the first 3 months of this year, in
January and February and March of this year, the insurgents, the
terrorists have been able to successfully kill 112 U.S. forces.
However, during that same period of time they have killed 2,720 Iraqi
civilians and security forces. What a huge change from the past.
We need to judge the insurgencies not by what they claim but who they
actually are attacking. This is an
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enemy that we cannot surrender to or give ground to. Their objective is
fear. Their method is death. They will never be appeased. If we were to
withdraw early, we would abandon Iraq to violence, but we also would
cause irreparable damage to this country.
It is not about Iraq, it is about defending America. We were attacked
on our soil. The cut-and-run caucus is always there. Surrender is
always their option. They are appeasers. An appeaser is someone who
throws his friend to the alligators hoping they eat him last. No man
lives when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails. Those who
yell, ``appease, appease,'' are hanged by those they tried to please.
My wife and I have been married 46 years. We have 20 kids and
grandchildren, and I say this: We are winning the war on terror, and
winning it in their territory. I ask God to richly bless the
decisionmakers and the troops.
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