[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12412-12413]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, there is an old statement which has 
become enshrined in our society now as the alcoholic's prayer. It goes 
like this:

       God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot 
     change, the courage to change the things I can, and the 
     wisdom to know the difference.

  I suggest that as we face the world today as the world's strongest 
power economically, militarily, culturally, educationally--in almost 
every category--we should view our responsibilities through the prism 
of the alcoholic's prayer: Grant us the serenity to accept the things 
we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the 
wisdom to know the difference.
  As I listen to the debate on Iraq, as I listen to the partisan and 
political comments, many of them well-meaning and properly addressed, I 
pray for the third leg of that saying--the wisdom to know the 
difference between the things we can change and the things we cannot 
because many of the things being raised with respect to our situation 
in Iraq are things we cannot change. Many of the complaints are against 
things we can change, but we are not because we are wallowing in 
complaint and self-criticism when we should be moving ahead.
  Let me give you an example. The first question we need to address 
with respect to our military activity in Iraq and elsewhere in the 
region is this: Are we engaged solely in a military exercise with 
respect to Iraq or are we, in fact, in a world war against terrorism? 
We need the wisdom to get the answer to that question and know the 
difference because the difference is vast.
  I am one who believes that we are, in fact, engaged in a worldwide 
war against terrorism. We must have the serenity to accept the fact 
that war is not going to go away if we ignore it. There are many who 
say there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11; therefore, 
we should spend all of our time going after those who dealt with 9/11 
and not pay any attention to Iraq. Well, that may have been a 
legitimate argument prior to the time we went into Iraq, but it is now 
irrelevant because we are there. We are there because this body, with 
over 70 votes, gave the President our support for going in there; and 
the United Nations, by a unanimous vote in the Security Council, gave 
the President support to go in. This body and the United Nations 
overwhelmingly, along with the House of Representatives, said this is 
the right thing to do. We did it, and we must accept the fact that we 
are there, and complaining about maybe we made a mistake doesn't change 
the reality that we are there.
  I am one who thinks we made the right decision. I am happy that David 
Kay, the inspector for weapons of mass destruction who went into Iraq, 
thinks we made the right decision. When I talk to audiences in Utah, I 
say: How many of you know that David Kay discovered there were no 
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Everybody raises his hand. Then I 
say: How many of you know that David Kay said, based on what he 
discovered, that Saddam Hussein was more dangerous than we thought? 
Well, we didn't know that. But that is a fact that we must recognize 
and have the wisdom to go forward in the face of that fact.
  Now, if indeed we are engaged in a worldwide war on terror, that 
means that our being in Iraq is not only for the sake of the Iraqis, it 
is for the sake of Americans. Some say we have no business being there, 
it is not our country, we don't care. Well, one of the realities we 
have to face is we are involved in the world whether we like it

[[Page 12413]]

or not. Those on the campaign trail who are saying bring the troops 
home are the same people who are saying stop buying at any retailer who 
purchases goods abroad. Those who are saying don't have anything to do 
with any company that has any employees abroad do not realize the 
fundamental truth that America is involved in the world whether we like 
it or not, and we cannot withdraw. We cannot become isolationists. We 
cannot hide behind our two oceans militarily or economically.
  The world has fundamentally changed. It fundamentally changed when 
the Berlin Wall came down and the ``evil empire'' ceased to exist. We 
are engaged around the world whether we like it or not. We must have 
the wisdom to recognize that fundamental truth and act accordingly; we 
must have the courage to act according to the truth.
  I went to Iraq with the leader and my colleague Senator Ensign from 
Nevada and spent a day with the commanders there. You can say that in 
one day in Iraq, what do you learn? Obviously, you don't learn 
everything you need to in one day to know the whole situation, but you 
learn a whole lot more in one day in Iraq than you do sitting in 
America reading the newspapers.
  I learned the forces that are opposed to us in Iraq have as their 
goal civil war and a failed state. Ultimately, what they want to have 
happen is for the Iraqi government that is being created now to fail. 
They want the Iraqis in anarchy. They want the economy destroyed. Why 
would they want such terrible things? They think out of that chaos they 
can seize power and come back into control.
  Most who are involved in this insurgency are former supporters and 
officers of Saddam Hussein. They are hoping that through chaos they can 
recapture that which they could not hold in the face of the American 
military incursion into that country.
  Grant us the wisdom to know the difference between a difficult 
situation and an impossible one. There are those who are saying Iraq is 
Bush's Vietnam. I do not think Iraq is Bush's Vietnam because Bush did 
not go into Iraq with the same motives that President Kennedy went into 
Vietnam, with the same naivete that President Kennedy and President 
Johnson pursued Vietnam.
  We should have the courage to change the situation in Iraq by 
persistence, by holding the course steadily, and by recognizing that 
there are people in the Middle East who do want freedom.
  There are pessimists who say: No, come on, Bennett, you say to accept 
the things you cannot change, and one of the things you cannot change 
is that the Muslim people do not want freedom.
  I refuse to accept that. Maybe I do not have the wisdom to recognize 
the difference, but I refuse to accept that.
  Having visited with some of the Iraqis, I have found some who said 
they clearly do, most particularly the new Prime Minister Allawi. We 
visited with him. He struck me as a very clear-headed, careful guy who 
fully understood the situation.
  As we were finishing our conversation, I said to him: Accept our 
thanks for your willingness to put your life on the line for this 
effort.
  His life is in jeopardy. Two ministers of his government have already 
been assassinated, and he is clearly the chief target of those who 
would plunge Iraq into civil war.
  I was interested in his answer. When I thanked him for his 
willingness to risk his life to make this government work, he looked at 
me and responded: It is my country.
  There is an Iraqi leader willing to risk his life for his country. We 
have the responsibility, I believe, to do everything we can to help 
him.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Allard). The Senator's time has expired.
  The Senator from Ohio is recognized for 7 minutes.

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