[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H1278]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




NEW NATIONAL SECURITY ESTIMATE SHOWS THAT THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION 
                                IN IRAQ

  (Mr. PERLMUTTER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. PERLMUTTER. Mr. Speaker, last week, the White House received a 
new National Intelligence Estimate from our intelligence agencies that 
confirms what we already know: The situation in Iraq is bad and likely 
to get worse. The NIE report concluded that the U.S. has little control 
over the day-to-day developments in Iraq and that there is a strong 
possibility of further deterioration.
  The report also refutes the President's claim that we could begin to 
see progress from his troop escalation within the next 6 months. 
Instead, the President's own intelligence experts expressed deep doubts 
that the Iraqis will be able to gain any real control over their 
militias within the next 18 months.
  They also stressed that the major security problem is not the 
presence of al Qaeda but instead is the Iraqi-on-Iraqi violence. The 
intelligence officials make clear that the political accommodations are 
crucial to reducing sectarian tensions, but the report concludes that 
the parties are unwilling or unable to make them at this point.

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