[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 4, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H1189-H1190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WHAT GEORGE WOULD HAVE DONE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is 
recognized during morning-hour debate for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, over the weekend, the Washington Post 
carried a thoughtful op-ed that I think

[[Page H1190]]

we ought to send down to the White House to make sure the President 
reads. It's called ``Lessons on Iraq from a Founding Father.'' The 
author, Brian O'Malley, an adjunct professor at Jones College in 
Jacksonville, Florida, reminds us that the Nation's first President, 
George Washington, could offer some good insights into what to do in 
Iraq.
  In the fall of 1775, before the Declaration of Independence, the 
fledgling Nation prepared to invade Canada, in what the author calls 
America's first preemptive war. George Washington had misgivings, and 
he expressed them in his letters to his commander, Colonel Benedict 
Arnold.
  Washington explicitly told Arnold to be sure that the Canadian people 
wanted America to cross the border. In his words, ``ever bearing in 
mind that if they are averse to it, and will not cooperate, or at least 
willingly acquiesce, it must fail of success. In this case you are by 
no means to prosecute the attempt.''
  Washington also understood that the safety of his soldiers depended 
on how they treated people, and he urged restraint. In his words, ``not 
only the good of their country and their honor, but their safety 
depends upon the treatment of these people.''
  The first President also worried about treating prisoners properly 
and with respect. He ordered his commander to restrain his forces, in 
his words, ``from all acts of cruelty and insult, which will disgrace 
the American arms, and irritate our fellow subjects against us.''
  Washington even warned of consequence against any American found to 
mistreat a prisoner. And Washington understood the need to respect 
religion, telling his commander to restrain officers and soldiers from 
any ridicule or disrespect of religion.
  The concerns raised by Washington in 1775 are exactly the concerns 
that should have been raised in 2002 before the Iraq invasion. It might 
have been prevented Abu Ghraib. It might have prevented the wholesale 
dismissal and dismantling of the Iraq army that led to the rise of 
insurgents. It might have prevented an Iraq quagmire that has 
needlessly claimed American lives, wastefully drained our Treasury, 
carelessly tainted American leadership in the world and absolutely 
harmed our economy here at home. That is the Iraq war record.
  History is replete with lessons, but unless we learn the lessons of 
history, we are doomed to repeat them. That is what is going on in Iraq 
today. The latest estimate places the cost of the war at $3 trillion, 
and that doesn't account for the cost of treating the thousands of U.S. 
soldiers coming back.
  Iraq is like quicksand, and America sinks deeper and deeper every 
single day. Our military is in shambles, the housing market looks more 
and more like a house of cards, the U.S. dollar is in free fall against 
other currencies, and the U.S. economy is in recession.
  The President says he hasn't heard that respected economists are 
talking about $4 a gallon gasoline next month. He's the only one who's 
missed the news. Gas is up almost $1 from a year ago. Diesel prices 
have already climbed to $3.60. But they have a rose garden down at the 
White House and a President who thinks everything is rosy. And if he 
says it, then it must be true.
  What is true is that Americans are using credit cards just to try and 
stay afloat. What is true is that a record number of Americans are 
losing their homes to foreclosure. What is true is that a President 
fixated on waging a perpetual Iraq war ignored the urgent needs of the 
American people. He has squandered their money and our leadership. The 
only signs pointing upward for the President are those that proclaim 
more bad news--another house foreclosed, another family bankruptcy. 
Instead of gazing out the window at the rose garden, the President 
ought to try walking down Main Street and talking to a few people. He 
is out of touch and America is out of time.

                [From the Washington Post, Mar. 1, 2008]

                 Lessons on Iraq From a Founding Father

                          (By Brian O'Malley)

       What would George Washington do about Iraq? In a December 
     Outlook essay, historian Joseph J. Ellis argued that it's not 
     possible to theorize exact answers because the ``gap between 
     the founders' time and ours is non-negotiable, and any direct 
     linkage between them and now is intellectually problematic.'' 
     But Ellis also conceded that this position is ``unacceptable 
     to many of us, because it suggests that the past is an 
     eternally lost world that has nothing to teach us.''
       History does hold lessons about today's issues, and this is 
     clear when considering Iraq and U.S. conduct in the war 
     against terrorism. Consider the 1775-76 invasion of Canada, 
     America's first preemptive war, which ended just days before 
     Congress ratified the Declaration of Independence.
       On Sept. 14, 1775, Washington wrote two letters to Col. 
     Benedict Arnold, who led an American force into Canada. Five 
     of Washington's points for invasion merit particular 
     attention.
       First, if the citizens don't want us there, don't go. 
     Washington told Arnold, ``You are by every means in your 
     power to endeavor to discover the real sentiments of the 
     Canadians towards our cause, and particularly as to this 
     expedition; ever bearing in mind that if they are averse to 
     it, and will not co-operate, or at least willingly acquiesce, 
     it must fail of success. In this case you are by no means to 
     prosecute the attempt.''
       The expense of starting the mission and the disappointment 
     of not completing it, Washington wrote, ``are not to be put 
     in competition with the dangerous consequences which may 
     ensue from irritating them against us.''
       Second, the safety of American personnel depended on how 
     they treated people. Washington wanted Arnold to ``conciliate 
     the affections'' of the Canadian settlers and Indians and 
     ordered Arnold to teach the soldiers and officers under his 
     command ``that not only the Good of their Country and their 
     Honour, but their Safety depends upon the Treatment of these 
     People.''
        Third, proper treatment of prisoners was necessary. The 
     prominent British parliamentarian William Pitt, who 
     championed American grievances, had a son serving in Canada. 
     John Pitt was never taken into American custody, but in the 
     event that Pitt was captured, Washington warned Arnold, ``You 
     cannot err in paying too much Honour to the Son of so 
     illustrious a Character, and so true a Friend to America.''
       This insistence on kind treatment extended beyond Pitt. 
     Washington wrote, ``Any other Prisoners who may fall into 
     your Hands, you will treat with as much Humanity and 
     kindness, as may be consistent with your own Safety and the 
     publick Interest.''
       Washington told Arnold to restrain the Continental troops 
     and their Indian allies ``from all Acts of Cruelty and 
     Insult, which will disgrace the American Arms, and irritate 
     our Fellow Subjects against us.''
       Fourth, any Americans who mistreated Canadians should be 
     punished. ``Should any American Soldier be so base and 
     infamous as to injure any Canadian or Indian, in his Person 
     or Property,'' Washington wrote, ``I do most earnestly enjoin 
     you to bring him to such severe and exemplary Punishment as 
     the Enormity of the Crime may require.'' In an accompanying 
     letter Washington added, ``Should it extend to Death itself 
     it will not be disproportional to its Guilt, at such a Time 
     and in such a Cause.''
       Fifth, respect the people's religion. ``As the Contempt of 
     the Religion of a Country by ridiculing any of its Ceremonies 
     or affronting its Ministers or Votaries, has ever been deeply 
     resented, you are to be particularly careful to restrain 
     every Officer and Soldier from such Imprudence and Folly and 
     to punish every Instance of it.''
       American ideals won immediate support from the Canadians, 
     but American misconduct squandered it. Contrary to 
     Washington's orders, some American commanders disrespected 
     Canadians' religion, property and liberty.
       Lamenting this American misconduct, Washington wrote to 
     Gen. Philip Schuyler on April 19, 1776, ``I am afraid proper 
     measures have not been taken to conciliate their affections, 
     but rather that they have been insulted and injured, than 
     which nothing could have a greater tendency to ruin our cause 
     in that country; for human nature is such that it will adhere 
     to the side from whence the best treatment is received.''
       George Washington is still first in war, first in peace and 
     first in the hearts of his countrymen. It's too bad he 
     couldn't have been the first person we asked about how to 
     proceed in Iraq.

     

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