[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Page 23295]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            PROGRESS IN IRAQ

  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I rise to comment on where we are with 
reference to the war. I was very pleased to read in the New York Times 
yesterday that a poll had been taken in Iraq. In fact, the New York 
Times reports so little good news about the theater of the war, I 
figured it had to be a poll or it wouldn't state anything good.
  The poll said two-thirds of the Iraqi people believed they were 
better off and that they would be better off in 5 years, having gotten 
rid of Saddam, rather than with him present. If you listen to all the 
news, you wonder whether the people of Iraq even care about our efforts 
to help or whether there are very many who are pleased to be part of 
this transition toward freedom.
  In addition, that same article said something rather phenomenal about 
the distinguished Ambassador who runs the American effort. The poll 
said--and the New York Times used two words--``remarkably positive''--
to characterize the 47 percent of the Iraqis who said he was doing a 
very good job. That was said almost with incredulity that it could be 
true, but it is, because we are doing a good job.
  We have been there 4\1/2\ months--not years. For us to already have 
achieved what has been done is borderline miraculous: Schools opened; 
hospitals opened; a council formed; a head of government there ready to 
move step by step toward democratization, with great leadership of the 
25-member governing body, 17 of them Ph.D.s in the subjects of the 
ministries they run. The agriculture ministry is run by an agronomist 
of real class, the water problems handled by a hydrologist of high 
quality. These are the kinds of people working with us to put that 
country together.
  One of the reasons I think we should move ahead rapidly--and I don't 
know what rapidly means on this legislation. Does it mean Monday, 
Tuesday, or Wednesday? I don't know--but we had better send a signal as 
soon as we can that we are there to get this job done.
  I had the privilege of asking questions yesterday of the two 
distinguished generals, the chief of staff of the military, General 
Myers, and the general in charge of the entire operation, General 
Abizaid, who speaks Arabic brilliantly. My questions to them were: Will 
we win this war, this conflict? Will we prevail, and will it end up 
positive? Instantly, each answered: Yes.
  Can we win?
  Yes.
  Will we win?
  Yes.
  Do our men want to win?
  Yes.
  Are our men happy, pleased? Do they know what they are doing?
  Absolutely.
  When I was finished with my time with the Secretary of Defense and 
the two outstanding generals, I was convinced that all we needed to be 
sure that democratization sets in and takes its footing there is the 
will to do it. We got into this with the full concurrence of the 
Congress. Those who continually speak of this as being President Bush's 
war are stating the facts wrong. It is our war. We voted for it by huge 
numbers, and we haven't brought a resolution to the floor negating 
that, to my knowledge.
  For those who now think it is not ours, but that it is the 
President's alone, maybe they ought to bring a resolution here denying 
that we are involved and that it is just his, and see what the Senate 
would say. I believe no one will do it, and if they did it, it would 
overwhelmingly fail, because we want to win and we know it, but the 
critics are involved in a great game of politics.
  Truly, it is time we get politics out of the scene and do what is 
needed. If there are Senators who know how to do it better, they ought 
to propose it. This is a very open body. If they have a better plan, 
suggest it. If they think we ought to spend the money differently, 
amend it. But we ought to do it. Everybody involved in this on the 
ground in Iraq thinks we are on the right path--the men there, the 
women there, the generals there, the privates. The men whose boots are 
on the ground think we are doing right. The only people who don't are 
countries such as France. We will never convince France about this. 
There is no use trying. They have already forgotten about America and 
America's involvement in helping them, and they are on some new path of 
their own.
  I remember as a Senator when people such as Helmut Kohl, the former 
Chancellor of Germany, would give a speech that would make you cry 
about how much Germany owed America. I heard one. I cried as he told of 
what brothers we were and why and what great people we were to win a 
war and demand nothing from them. Here we are engaged in a war against 
terror that will help all of Europe, and we have France and other 
countries, for some reasons of their own, out there acting as if 
America were some foreign power that they don't even know, that has 
some mission that is adverse to the world, when they know better. They 
know our mission, they know our attitude, and they know what kind of 
country we are.
  Having said that, I hope, if we can't move this emergency 
supplemental request on Monday, that we move rapidly, whenever that is, 
to let the Senate speak. Do we want to abandon this process before it 
ever has a chance to succeed, or do we want to give it a real chance to 
prevail? I believe in the end the latter will prevail. It will take 
some time and some talking, but in the end we will conclude that 4\1/2\ 
months is not long enough to determine the destiny of that country 
where we had such a fantastic military victory that the world will 
recognize forever as one of the single most significant military 
achievements in history with minimal civilian damage and expeditious 
and maximum annihilation of the real opponent.
  We cannot quit after 4 months. We cannot say we will support the men 
and women of the military but we won't support the effort to provide 
the minimal service that will bring the Iraqi people into a state where 
they will want to move forward, democratize, and become free.
  To me, it is a simple proposition--and maybe it should not be--that 
is, do we want to give up or do we want to win? Do we want to abandon 
this effort after 4\1/2\ months and challenge every single move by 
somebody as distinguished as Ambassador Bremer and his team? I believe 
the answers are pretty simple. The American people, even with all the 
negatives thrown at them about what's happening in Iraq, still believe 
we did right going in, and they still believe we are right in being 
there now. All that is left is that we do what is right.
  I yield the floor.

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