[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 110 (Friday, July 8, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H4565]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             CHILCOT REPORT

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, I was impressed this week with the 
release of the long-awaited Chilcot report from the United Kingdom's 
inquiry into the Iraq war.
  While the main conclusions of the report should be familiar to all of 
us--that the U.S. and Britain justified the invasion of Iraq with 
flawed and manipulated intelligence and that subsequent preparations 
for post-invasion Iraq were woefully inadequate and mismanaged--it is, 
nonetheless, an overdue public accountability of British leadership and 
a detailed and searing rebuke that no member of the Bush administration 
has ever undergone.
  During his news conference, Mr. Blair said: ``I express more sorrow, 
regret, and apology than you can ever believe.''
  Mr. Speaker, what is the chance that we will ever hear those same 
remorseful and contemplative words from Mr. Bush? Mr. Cheney? Mr. 
Rumsfeld? It is virtually nonexistent.
  God forgive us and them for our indifference. Iraq never will.
  Mr. Speaker, I was impressed this week with the release of the long-
awaited Chilcot Report, the United Kingdom's inquiry into the Iraq War.
  While the main conclusions of the report should be familiar to all of 
us by now--that the U.S. and Britain justified the invasion of Iraq on 
both flawed and manipulated intelligence and that subsequent 
preparations for post-invasion Iraq were woefully inadequate and 
mismanaged--it is nonetheless an overdue public accountability of 
British leadership, a detailed and searing rebuke that no member of the 
Bush administration has ever undergone.
  The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was the worst foreign policy decision 
ever made by an American president, a decision that cost the U.S. 
trillions of dollars and that led to the deaths of over a million 
people, including 4,500 American servicemembers and scores of Iraqis.
  Moreover, the ripple effect across the Middle East from that single 
event 13 years ago has been brutal and violent, spawning terrorist 
groups like ISIS and miring U.S. foreign policy in a region we continue 
to misunderstand.
  For me, and for a number of others in this chamber who boldly spoke 
against the war before it even began, this report has enormous 
resonance.
  And it was cathartic to watch former Prime Minister Tony Blair's news 
conference, where he appeared if not exactly repentant, at least deeply 
affected by the report's scathing criticism.
  President Bush and the other architects of the war have never deigned 
to present themselves before the public to explain, much less atone 
for, their actions and decisions.
  Meanwhile, House Republicans have been far more determined to waste 
this body's time and resources investigating Benghazi, Hillary 
Clinton's emails, or the IRS rather than the biggest foreign policy 
disaster of the last quarter century.
  Indifference, Mr. Speaker. That's what the Iraq War has amounted to: 
a regrettable blip on an otherwise sterling American reputation abroad. 
That's what President Bush, Vice President Cheney, Secretary Rumsfeld, 
and the rest of the political elite who enabled their actions would 
have you believe.
  But while they continue to enjoy their comfortable retirement, free 
of punishment or official censure, Iraq continues to burn.
  Perhaps you think a Chilcot Report of our own would be futile, now 
that the American people popularly regard the Iraq War as a profound 
mistake.
  But public censures have their uses, not the least being that they 
serve as a warning to those who would forget or ignore our past 
missteps. An American Chilcot Report would certainly check those voices 
now calling for increased military action in Iraq and Syria.
  Over the past 5 days, during the final week of the Muslim holy month 
of Ramadan, over 320 people have been killed in Baghdad. This is just 
the latest of Iraq's horrors, Mr. Speaker, horrors that we wrought with 
our senseless and criminal invasion 13 years ago.
  During his news conference, Mr. Blair said ``I express more sorrow, 
regret and apology than you can ever believe.''
  Mr. Speaker, the chances of ever hearing the same remorseful and 
contemplative words from Bush, Cheney, or Rumsfeld are virtually non-
existent. God forgive them and us for such indifference, for Iraq never 
will.

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