[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 93 (Monday, June 11, 2007)]
[House]
[Page H6212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 PRESIDENT SHOULD OVERRULE PROPOSED NEW STRATEGY OF GIVING WEAPONS TO 
                           SUNNI ARAB GROUPS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, tonight I rise to demand that President 
Bush take immediate action as Commander in Chief to overrule a proposed 
new strategy in Iraq, a proposal that may put our troops in even 
greater danger in the days ahead.
  The New York Times reported this morning that our commanders in Iraq 
are now planning to give weapons to Sunni Arab groups, weapons that may 
turn around and be used against our very own troops.
  In the past, these Sunni groups have been allied with al Qaeda and 
have actually been suspected of being involved in attacks upon our 
troops. So why are we doing this? According to the Times, our 
commanders have reason to believe that the Sunnis have split with al 
Qaeda and are now ready to fight on our side. Well, it could be true, 
but this strategy is fraught with terrible peril for our brave men and 
women in combat.
  The Times reports, ``Critics of the strategy, including some American 
officers, say it could amount to the Americans arming both sides in a 
future civil war. The United States has spent more than $15 billion in 
building up Iraq's Army and police force, whose manpower of 350,000 is 
heavily Shiite. With little sign of a political accommodation between 
Shiites and Sunni politicians in Baghdad, there is a risk that any 
weapons given to Sunni groups will eventually be used against 
Shiites.'' And I must mention, our troops will be stuck in the middle, 
dying for what? Because there is the possibility, says the Times, the 
weapons could be used against the Americans themselves.
  Let me repeat that last sentence, ``There is also the possibility the 
weapons could be used against the Americans themselves.'' That's what 
the Times had to say.
  But first, Madam Speaker, we sent our troops into battle without the 
proper body armor or vehicle armor. Then we put them in the middle of a 
bloody civil war they were never trained to fight. Then, when many of 
them got wounded, we gave them terrible medical treatment at home. Now 
this is the latest outrage.
  Madam Speaker, I do not condemn our commanders in the field for 
making this decision. They are taking this risk because they are 
desperate to implement President Bush's hopeless, foolish surge policy, 
but the surge has not worked, is not working and will not work.
  As the Times reports, ``An initial decline in sectarian killings in 
Baghdad in the first two months of the troop buildup has reversed, with 
growing numbers of bodies showing up each day in the capital. Suicide 
bombings have dipped in Baghdad, but increased elsewhere, as al Qaeda 
groups, confronted with great American troop numbers, have shifted 
their operations elsewhere.''
  There's only one way, Madam Speaker, out of this. We must bring our 
troops home, and then we must work with the Iraqi people and we must 
work with them in a peaceful way to reconstruct their devastated 
Nation.
  Last month, a bill that called for starting the withdrawal of our 
troops within 90 days received 171 votes in this House. Some pundits 
were surprised that it received that much support. I wasn't. Opposition 
to this President's failed foreign policy is growing all over America, 
and those voices are eventually being heard in this body more and more 
every day.
  Madam Speaker, if American troops are harmed by this new war 
strategy, then the American people will hold the President accountable. 
But if we in this House condone it as well, or remain silent, then we 
will be responsible, too.
  Our job is to force this administration to fully fund the plan to 
bring our troops and our contractors home, home where they are not 
positioned in the middle of a civil war.

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