[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 148 (Tuesday, October 2, 2007)]
[House]
[Pages H11133-H11134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1800
                   DRUMBEATS OF WAR ARE COMING AGAIN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, out of a sense of duty and a growing 
fear, I rise to say that I hear the drumbeats of war coming again from 
this administration. This time, Iran is in the crosshairs.
  It's ironic that the alarm has sounded today, the birth date of 
Mahatma Gandhi, and the United Nation's first World Nonviolence Day in 
honor of Gandhi's commitment to peace.
  Perhaps the contrast between the man of peace and an administration 
of war will underscore the need and the urgency for Congress to act 
before the President orders a military strike.
  I listened and sounded the alarm in 2002 regarding Iraq. But the 
President and the Vice President had already set in motion their 
invasion plan, and those who got in the way were called unpatriotic and 
uncaring or worse. Back then, too many in the media, the Congress and 
across the Nation were willing to accept a war without justification or 
justice. Now, at least the American people overwhelmingly recognize the 
tragic consequences of the Iraq war and the occupation.
  At least one development in 2008 may make this time different than 
2002. The Internet has grown exponentially. Today, credible and factual 
information is readily available. The blogosphere is on fire sounding 
alarm, and we will have no one to blame except ourselves if we let this 
administration take us to war in Iran. Go to your computer and Google 
``Iran war.'' The search yields 74 million hits. Let me read a few of 
the top search results:
  Day One: ``The War with Iran.''
  ``Iran: The next war,'' in the Rolling Stone.
  ``America's hidden war with Iran,'' Newsweek.
  ``Is U.S.-Iran war inevitable?'' Time magazine.
  ``The Iran plans,'' the New Yorker.
  And ``The U.S. trains gulf Air Forces for war against Iran.''
  Some see the same signs as I do, and they are writing across a broad 
spectrum of the media, trying to be heard above the beats of war. 
However, the President and Vice President are using friendly fire from 
the right-wing media to lull the Americans to sleep, while they lay the 
groundwork and shop for a Gulf of Tonkin-like provocation to launch a 
military strike.
  Journalist Tim Shipman of the Telegraph in London writes ``American 
diplomats have been ordered to compile a dossier detailing Iran's 
violations of international law. Some U.S. diplomats believe the 
exercise will boost calls for military action by neoconservatives 
inside and outside the administration.''
  In the New Yorker, renowned journalist Seymour Hirsh says, ``The 
revised bombing plan for a possible attack, with its tightened focus on 
counterterrorism, is gathering support among generals and admirals in 
the Pentagon.
  Hirsch adds, ``A Pentagon consultant on counterterrorism told me 
that, if the bombing campaign took place, it would be accompanied by a 
series of what are called short, sharp incursions by American special 
forces into suspected Iranian training camps. Cheney is devoted to 
this, no question.''
  Now, does that sound like a diplomatic solution to you?
  For at least a year we've been lulled into believing that the 
administration cannot fool the American people again. But I say this is 
just the kind of wishful thinking this administration is hoping for. It 
gives them time to spin the rhetoric and plot the missile tracks into 
Iran.

[[Page H11134]]

  We stand on the brink of a conflagration in the Middle East, 
spreading from Iraq to Iran, to Pakistan and Afghanistan and the entire 
region. The legacy of this administration could be wars without ends 
and wars without borders.
  Waiting for the next election may be too late; 475 days is a long 
time.
  As a medical doctor, I was trained to listen to the patient. I've 
been listening to this President, and he's telling us that Iran is his 
next military target. Congress is all that stands in the way of this 
President carrying out a bombing strike of how many sources, how many 
sites we don't know. And I urge the House to act before it is too late.
  We need a resolution that requires the President to come back to the 
Congress before any act of war is taken against Iran.

                          ____________________