[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 9474]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              IRAQ IMAGES

  (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, the ship of state sails without a rudder.
  Increasingly, the world sees our presence in Iraq as an occupation, 
not a liberation. Any talk of democracy has been replaced with images 
of brute and brutal force.
  The President talks about a superb Cabinet Secretary, but America and 
the world reel in horror and shame over what was done in the name of 
defending our country.
  If only the administration had paid attention. The Red Cross knew, 
but the administration would not listen. American leadership and 
credibility have cratered deeper and deeper, yet the administration 
remains deaf to what happened and the need to act.
  The administration heaps praise on one of its own, even as it seeks 
to silence the images. They sent him to Iraq, I guess, to get him out 
of town, but the images have stirred the world. As it has for so long, 
the world looks to America again today. But today, the world looks with 
eyes averted, because the images that today define America in no way 
resemble America.

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