[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 117 (Friday, July 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1581]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                THE WAR

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                           HON. WM. LACY CLAY

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 19, 2007

  Mr. CLAY. Madam Speaker, in the fall of 2002, I was among the 
majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives who voted against 
the Iraq war resolution. Claims about weapons of mass destruction had 
not been substantiated and there was no evidence that Saddam Hussein 
was linked to al Qaeda and the 9-11 attacks. I did not accept--as 
administration officials asserted--that the costs of the war and 
rebuilding of Iraq could be financed by Iraqi oil revenues. At that 
time, I told my colleagues that Iraq did not pose a direct threat to 
our national security and that we should concentrate our power on 
capturing Osama Bin Laden and destroying al Qaeda.
  The invasion and occupation of Iraq has not achieved what its 
proponents promised. The war has degraded our military, undermined our 
nation's influence in the world, vitalized terrorists, and left the 
American people more vulnerable to attack than we were before the war.
  Now, the National Intelligence Estimate confirms that while the 
administration vainly wrestles to salvage some semblance of victory in 
Iraq, Osama Bin Laden and his followers are poised for a resurgence. Al 
Qaeda's terrorist network, which was weakened but not destroyed after 
we invaded Afghanistan, never lost sight of its enemy. Today, al Qaeda 
poses as grave a threat to the United States as it did before 9-11.
  As long as we remain in Iraq, al Qaeda will profit and the American 
people will pay the price. The security of our Nation demands that we 
withdraw from Iraq and use all of our military, intelligence and 
diplomatic resources to tear down the terrorist networks that want to 
destroy our way of life.
  This Administration must stop blindly pandering to elitist dreams of 
rebuilding other nations in our image. Protecting the American people 
is a fundamental purpose of our government. The Iraq war is not 
advancing our national security; it is time to bring our troops home.
  The Bush policy in Iraq has already cost the lives of over 3,600 
brave Americans, with over 26,000 wounded. It has squandered and 
scattered resources that we should have devoted to our homeland 
security. And it has cost the U.S. citizens over half a trillion 
dollars in hard earned wages and lost Government services.
  When history is written, it might say that we lost the first battle 
in the war against terrorism, but I pray it will not say that we lost 
the war.




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