[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 175 (Tuesday, December 6, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1607]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           STAY OUT OF MOSUL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ALAN GRAYSON

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 6, 2016

  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, haven't we learned anything?
  In 1899, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem called The White Man's Burden, 
urging America to bring ``civilization'' to the Philippines. The 
results were 250,000 deaths, war crimes, and denial of Philippine 
independence for half a century.
  Haven't we learned anything?
  U.S. forces occupied Iraq for nine years, until the Iraqis insisted 
that we leave. The results were more than 600,000 deaths, a cost of $4 
trillion (8 percent of our national net worth), and a Sunni vacuum that 
the Islamic State terror group has filled.
  Haven't we learned anything?
  I've been to every country in the world recognized by the United 
Nations. There are a few universals. Everywhere, people want to fall in 
love; they love children and pets; they're acquisitive. And everywhere, 
people don't want to see foreigners with guns. They'd prefer a local 
dictatorship to a foreign military occupation. So please don't tell me 
that sending U.S. troops back to Iraq would be ``for their own good.''
  Some argue that we must send U.S. troops to Mosul for our sake, 
regardless of what the Iraqis want or need. That's called 
``colonialism.'' It pits us against one of the great narratives of our 
times, world decolonization. It invites the hatred not only of more 
than 1 billion Muslims but the entire world. They will see us not as 
liberators but as the enemy.
  It is a bizarre misconception to think that sending U.S. troops 8,000 
miles from home somehow makes us safer. It doesn't. And it is a great 
disservice to our troops to fight in a place where they don't 
understand the language, the religion or the customs.
  As a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I asked 10 nearby 
Sunni Muslim countries whether they would send ground forces to fight 
ISIL. Four said yes. Then I asked Secretary of State John Kerry whether 
he had asked the same question. He said ``no.''
  If Iraq actually is a thing, then it should be capable of defending 
itself. If it can't or won't, then fighters who look and sound like 
locals should do the job.
  It isn't the white man's burden. It never was.

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