[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 129 (Thursday, July 31, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7973-S7974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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 SENATE RESOLUTION 636--RECOGNIZING THE STRATEGIC SUCCESS OF THE TROOP 
  SURGE IN IRAQ AND EXPRESSING GRATITUDE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED 
           STATES ARMED FORCES WHO MADE THAT SUCCESS POSSIBLE

  Mr. LIEBERMAN (for himself, Mr. Graham, Mr. McCain, Mr. Enzi, Mr. 
Martinez, Mr. Bond, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Allard, Mr. 
Thune, Mr. Barrasso, and Mr. Inhofe) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services:

                              S. Res. 636

       Whereas, by the end of 2006, it had become clear that, 
     despite exceptional efforts and sacrifices on the part of the 
     United States Armed Forces in Iraq, the United States was 
     pursuing a failed strategy in Iraq;
       Whereas, by the end of 2006, large-scale sectarian violence 
     was accelerating throughout Iraq, al Qaeda had established 
     significant safe havens there, militias sponsored by the 
     Government of Iran had seized effective control of large 
     swaths of Iraq, and the Government of Iraq was suffering from 
     political paralysis;
       Whereas, by the end of 2006, insurgents and death squads 
     were killing more than 3,000 civilians in Iraq each month and 
     coalition forces were sustaining more than 1,200 attacks each 
     week;
       Whereas, in December 2006, the Iraq Study Group warned that 
     ``the United States is facing one of its most difficult and 
     significant international challenges in decades'' in Iraq and 
     that ``Iraq is vital to regional and even global stability, 
     and is critical to U.S. interests'';
       Whereas, in December 2004, Osama bin Laden said the 
     following of the war in Iraq: ``The most important and 
     serious issue today for the whole world is this Third World 
     War. . . . The world's millstone and pillar is Baghdad, the 
     capital of the caliphate.'';
       Whereas, on January 10, 2007, in an address to the Nation, 
     President George W. Bush acknowledged that the situation in 
     Iraq was ``unacceptable'' and announced his intention to put 
     in place a new strategy, subsequently known as ``the surge'';
       Whereas President Bush nominated and the Senate confirmed 
     General David H. Petraeus as the Commander of Multi-National 
     Forces-Iraq, a position he assumed on February 10, 2007;
       Whereas General Petraeus, upon assuming command, and in 
     partnership with Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, the 
     Commander of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, and United States 
     Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, developed a comprehensive 
     civil-military counterinsurgency campaign plan to reverse 
     Iraq's slide into chaos, defeat the enemies of the United 
     States in Iraq, and, in partnership with the Iraqi Security 
     Forces and the Government of Iraq, reestablish security 
     across the country;
       Whereas, under the previous strategy, the overwhelming 
     majority of United States combat forces were concentrated on 
     a small number of large forward operating bases and were not 
     assigned the mission of providing security for the people of 
     Iraq against insurgents, terrorists, and militia fighters, in 
     part because there were insufficient members of the United 
     States Armed Forces in Iraq to do so;
       Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, 
     approximately 5 additional United States Army brigades and 2 
     United States Marine Corps battalions were deployed to Iraq;
       Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, members of 
     the United States Armed Forces were deployed out of large 
     forward operating bases onto small bases throughout Baghdad 
     and other key population centers, partnering with the Iraqi 
     Security Forces to provide security for the local population 
     against insurgents, terrorists, and militia fighters;
       Whereas additional members of the United States Armed 
     Forces began moving into Iraq in January 2007 and reached 
     full strength in June 2007;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the additional forces needed 
     in Iraq, in April 2007 the United States Army added 3 months 
     to the standard year-long tour for all active duty soldiers 
     in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the United States Marine Corps 
     added 3 months to the standard 6-month tour for all active 
     duty Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan;
       Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, members of 
     the United States Armed Forces began simultaneous and 
     successive offensive operations, in partnership with the 
     Iraqi Security Forces, of unprecedented breadth, continuity, 
     and sophistication, striking multiple enemy safe havens and 
     lines of communication at the same time;
       Whereas, as an integral component of the surge, additional 
     members of the United States Armed Forces were deployed to 
     Anbar province to provide essential support to the nascent 
     tribal revolt against al Qaeda in that province;
       Whereas those additional members of the United States Armed 
     Forces played a critical role in the success and spread of 
     anti-Qaeda Sunni tribal groups in Anbar province and 
     subsequently in other regions of Iraq;
       Whereas, since the start of the surge in January 2007, 
     there have been marked and hopeful improvements in almost 
     every political, security, and economic indicator in Iraq;
       Whereas, in 2007, General Petraeus described Iraq as ``the 
     central front of al Qaeda's global campaign'';
       Whereas, in 2008, as a consequence of the success of the 
     surge, al Qaeda has been dealt what Director of Central 
     Intelligence Michael Hayden assesses as a ``near strategic 
     defeat'' in Iraq;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, 
     militias backed by the Government of Iran have been routed 
     from major population centers in Iraq and no longer control 
     significant swaths of territory;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, 
     sectarian violence in Iraq has fallen dramatically and has 
     been almost entirely eliminated;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, 
     overall insurgent attacks have fallen by approximately 80 
     percent since June 2007 and are at their lowest level since 
     March 2004;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, 
     United States casualties in Iraq have dropped dramatically 
     and United States combat deaths in Iraq in July 2008 were 
     lower than in any other month since the beginning of the war;

[[Page S7974]]

       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, the 
     Government of Iraq has made significant strides in advancing 
     sectarian reconciliation and achieving political progress, 
     including the passage of key benchmark legislation;
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, the 
     Iraqi Security Forces have improved markedly and 
     approximately 70 percent of Iraqi combat battalions are now 
     leading operations in their areas; and
       Whereas, as a consequence of the success of the surge, 
     General Petraeus concluded in 2008 that conditions on the 
     ground in Iraq could permit the additional brigades and 
     battalions dispatched to Iraq in 2007 as part of the surge to 
     be safely redeployed without replacement, and all such 
     brigades and battalions have been successfully withdrawn 
     without replacement: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends and expresses its gratitude to the men and 
     women of the United States Armed Forces for the service, 
     sacrifices, and heroism that made the success of the troop 
     surge in Iraq possible;
       (2) commends and expresses its gratitude to General David 
     H. Petraeus, General Raymond Odierno, and Ambassador Ryan 
     Crocker for the distinguished wartime leadership that made 
     the success of the troop surge in Iraq possible;
       (3) recognizes the success of the troop surge in Iraq and 
     its strategic significance in advancing the vital national 
     interests of the United States in Iraq, the Middle East, and 
     the world, in particular as a strategic victory in a central 
     front of the war on terrorism; and
       (4) recognizes that the hard-won gains achieved as a result 
     of the troop surge in Iraq are significant but not yet 
     permanent and that it is imperative that no action be taken 
     that jeopardizes those gains or dishonors the service and 
     sacrifice of the men and women of the United States Armed 
     Forces who made those gains possible.

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