[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13490-13491]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WHY WE ARE IN IRAQ

  Mr. HOLLINGS. Mr. President, I submitted a column on how we got into 
the mess in Iraq, which appeared this morning in The State newspaper in 
Columbia, SC. I ask unanimous consent it be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

       Peoples the world around have a history of culture and 
     religion. In the Mideast, the religion is predominantly 
     Muslim and the culture tribal. The Muslim religion is strong, 
     i.e., those that don't conform are considered infidels; those 
     of a tribal culture look for tribal leadership, not 
     democracy. We liberated Kuwait, but it immediately rejected 
     democracy.
       2. In 1996, a task force was formed in Jerusalem including 
     Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser. They 
     submitted a plan for Israel to incoming Prime Minister 
     Benjamin Netanyahu called Clean Break. It proposed that 
     negotiations with the Palestinians be cut off and, instead, 
     the Mideast be made friendly to Israel by democratizing it. 
     First Lebanon would be bombed, then Syria invaded on the 
     pretext of weapons of mass destruction. Afterward, Saddam 
     Hussein was to be removed in Iraq and replaced with a 
     Hashemite ruler favorable to Israel.
       The plan was rejected by Netanyahu, so Perle started 
     working for a similar approach to the Mideast for the United 
     States. Taking on the support of Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, 
     Stephen Cambone, Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld, et al., he 
     enlisted the support of the Project for the New American 
     Century.
       The plan hit paydirt with the election of George W. Bush. 
     Perle took on the Defense Policy Board. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz 
     and Feith became one, two and three at the Defense 
     Department, and Cheney as vice president took Scooter Libby 
     and David Wurmser as his deputies. Clean Break was 
     streamlined to go directly into Iraq.
       Iraq, as a threat to the United States, was all contrived. 
     Richard Clarke stated in his book, Against All Enemies, with 
     John McLaughlin of the CIA confirming, that

[[Page 13491]]

     there was no evidence or intelligence of ``Iraqi support for 
     terrorism against the United States'' from 1993 until 2003 
     when we invaded. The State Department on 9/11 had a list of 
     45 countries wherein al Qaeda was operating. While the United 
     States was listed, it didn't list the country of Iraq.
       President Bush must have known that there were no weapons 
     of mass destruction in Iraq. We have no al Qaeda, no weapons 
     of mass destruction and no terrorism from Iraq; we were 
     intentionally misled by the Bush administration.
       Which explains why President-elect Bush sought a briefing 
     on Iraq from Defense Secretary William Cohen in January 
     before taking the oath of office and why Iraq was the 
     principal concern at his first National Security Council 
     meeting--all before 9/11. When 9/11 occurred, we knew 
     immediately that it was caused by Osama bin Laden in 
     Afghanistan. Within days we were not only going into 
     Afghanistan, but President Bush was asking for a plan to 
     invade Iraq--even though Iraq had no involvement.

  After 15 months, Iraq has yet to be secured. Its borders were left 
open after ``mission accomplished,'' allowing terrorists throughout the 
Mideast to come join with the insurgents to wreak havoc. As a result, 
our troops are hunkered down, going out to trouble spots and escorting 
convoys.
  In the war against terrorism, we've given the terrorists a cause and 
created more terrorism. Even though Saddam is gone, the majority of the 
Iraqi people want us gone. We have proven ourselves ``infidels.'' With 
more than 800 GIs killed, 5,000 maimed for life and a cost of $200 
billion, come now the generals in command, both Richard Myers and John 
Abizaid, saying we can't win. Back home the cover of The New Republic 
magazine asks, ``Were We Wrong?''
  Walking guard duty tonight in Baghdad, a G.I. wonders why he should 
lose his life when his commander says he can't win and the people back 
home can't make up their mind. Unfortunately, the peoples of the world 
haven't changed their minds. They are still against us. Heretofore, the 
world looked to the United States to do the right thing. No more. The 
United States has lost its moral authority.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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