[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2018)]
[House]
[Page H3155]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             RUSHING TO WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Tennessee (Mr. Duncan) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, in the days leading up to the 
congressional vote on whether to go to war in Iraq years ago, Fortune 
magazine had an article headlined: ``We Win--What Then?'' The article 
said that a prolonged war in Iraq would make American soldiers 
``sitting ducks for Islamic terrorists.''
  Another national magazine at that time, U.S. News & World Report, had 
an article headlined: ``Why the Rush to War?'' Now that war has been 
frequently referred to as possibly the greatest foreign policy mistake 
in U.S. history.
  The night before the Iraq war vote, a television station in Knoxville 
ran a poll showing 74 percent in favor of the war, 9 percent against, 
and 17 percent undecided. I was one of six Republicans who voted 
against going to war. For 3 or 4 years, that was certainly the most 
unpopular vote I ever cast. But slowly, slowly, slowly it ended up 
being the most popular vote I ever cast.
  We were basically conned into that war by a group of neocons, so-
called neoconservatives, whom George Will once described as being 
``magnificently misnamed'' because they were really the ``most radical 
people'' in this city, meaning Washington.
  In addition to our disaster in Iraq, we have now been at war in 
Afghanistan for 17 years, seemingly permanent, forever wars that have 
cost us trillions of dollars and caused many thousands of Americans to 
be killed or maimed. What a waste.
  President Reagan once said that we should never go to war unless 
there were no other reasonable alternatives, and then only as a very 
last resort.
  We have had too many leaders who never went to war themselves, such 
as the new National Security Advisor, John Bolton, who seem far too 
eager for others to go to war so these chicken hawks can feel more 
important or think of themselves as modern-day Winston Churchills.
  Now we seem to be rushing into another war in Syria. I am thankful 
that conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Pat Buchanan are questioning 
this new rush to war. At some point, with a $21 trillion national debt, 
we have to realize there are limits to American power.
  Civil wars and really terrible things are happening all over the 
world--in Africa, in the Middle East, and in other places--all the 
time. As President Kennedy said at the University of Washington in one 
of his most famous speeches, with only 4 percent of the world's 
population, ``we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity--
and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world 
problem.''
  Most of the time, a military solution is the worst solution. There 
are many other ways we can help people who have been harmed: through 
humanitarian, religious, or charitable organizations, or through the 
United Nations.
  Pat Buchanan wrote that President Trump is being ``goaded into war'' 
and that Congress should ``debate our objectives in this new war and 
how many new casualties and years will be required to defeat the 
coalition of Syria, Russia, Hezbollah, Iran, and the allied Shiite 
militias from the Near East.''
  Tucker Carlson said that we need to ask some skeptical questions now, 
at least in part, because Secretary Mattis said in February that we 
have absolutely no proof that Assad used the chemical weapons he was 
accused of using last year. He added that there is no real proof Assad 
did chemical attacks this time because such an attack would really help 
only the rebels fighting Assad, and they also have chemical weapons, 
and they have been described as Islamic terrorists, although we are 
supporting them. Mr. Carlson pointed out that Assad had every reason or 
incentive not to use chemical weapons in a civil war his government 
basically had already won.
  President Trump was elected in large part because he promised to get 
us out of these very unnecessary wars in the Middle East. Almost 
everything we have done in the Middle East over the last many years has 
been wrong. There has been fighting going on there for several thousand 
years. Throughout history, other wars have been started over incidents 
or information that turned out to be false or greatly exaggerated.
  We do not need nor can we afford to get into another trillion-dollar 
war in the Middle East without first making absolutely certain that it 
is in America's interest to do so and that it will not make the Middle 
East even more messed up and chaotic than it already is.

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