[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H2825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NO MILITARY SOLUTION TO IRAQ WAR

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, this week the House will have a chance to 
move the Iraq war in a new direction: one that holds the Iraqi 
Government accountable for meeting benchmarks that they have already 
promised they could make.
  In contrast, the President's only answer is an open-ended commitment 
to what even his own Pentagon now admits is a civil war. Military 
leaders across the board have already told the President that there is 
no military solution to the war, and yet he continues with the status 
quo.
  Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli said in December: ``The proper 
political pieces must be in place in order for any of the military, 
economic or social initiatives to take hold and flourish.''
  Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno said: ``It is clear you cannot 
solve this problem militarily.''
  And just last month, Major General Paul Eaton said: ``Time and again, 
they have shown a tendency to focus almost exclusively on military 
solutions to problems without leveraging the full economic, political 
and diplomatic solutions to problems.''
  These military leaders are correct. Iraqis must step forward and make 
critical political reforms if they really want to begin to stem the 
violence. But unlike the President, Democrats will finally demand some 
accountability from the Iraqi Government this week.

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