[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 19, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H6661]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IRAQIS MUST ASSUME MORE RESPONSIBILITY

  Mr. SKELTON. Mr. Speaker, thank you.
  I am very concerned about Iraq. Very concerned. The weather vane of 
the Iraqi fight has shifted clearly to the Iraqis. It is theirs to win 
or lose. General John Abizaid stated yesterday, ``It's very, very clear 
that in order to win in Iraq, the Iraqis have to assume more and more 
responsibility.''
  Last week, there were two developments in Iraq that I feel need to be 
highlighted. First, the Marine Corps' chief of intelligence in Iraq has 
reportedly described the situation in the Sunni-dominated Anbar 
province as ``politically'' lost to al Qaeda. The second is the plan to 
secure Baghdad from the insurgents by encircling it with, for lack of a 
better word, a moat. The idea of a moat went out of style in the middle 
ages. Both of these reports paint a less than rosy picture of how we 
are faring in this war that has already cost so much in blood and 
treasure. These two developments indicate that our level of effort is 
insufficient to maintain control of the country.
  On the basis of these and other reports, some analysts determined 
that the solution to our problems in Baghdad and the Anbar province is 
to send more troops to Iraq. This might sound like a plausible course 
of action except for the fundamental problem that there are no more 
units to send to Iraq. Oh, certainly we can surge units forward into 
combat, but there is no way we can sustain that increase for any 
significant period of time. The administration's poor planning and poor 
strategic choices in Iraq have depleted our military of equipment and 
manpower. Iraq has become a black hole, sapping our strategic base of 
resources. The readiness situation has become so bad that our 
nondeployed combat brigades report that if called today, they may not 
be fully ready to complete all of their wartime missions.
  The fact that our ground force readiness has fallen to such a 
dangerous level risks emboldening our enemies both in Iraq and 
elsewhere in the world. We must act now to reverse this decline. 
Certainly spending more money on Army and Marine Corps readiness will 
help. The Congress has provided additional funds to reset Army and 
Marine Corps equipment. But even with that increased funding, it will 
take some time for our units to get healthy again. I also strongly urge 
the administration to submit a budget that realistically reflects the 
services' needs.
  But unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, additional money will not be enough. 
We do not have the luxury of staying the course. The conflict in Iraq 
has depleted our ground forces and placed this country at strategic 
risk. We must start making significant progress in Iraq now, and the 
best way to do it is by transitioning the responsibility for Iraqi 
security to the Iraqis. I urge the administration to redouble its 
efforts to train and equip the Iraqi security forces.

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