[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Pages 25879-25880]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               A REAL WAR

  Mr. COBURN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today because, as I 
travel around Oklahoma, one of the things I find is a lack of 
recognition of the war we are in, why we are there, what the problems 
are associated with it. Every one of us has a heavy heart for the fact 
that we now have troops committed and dying and sacrificing every day 
in the war on terrorism.
  As I thought about what to say to my constituents in Oklahoma but 
also to the American people, I found that I could not say it as well as 
retired MG Vernon Chong of the U.S. Air Force. I wish to read, for a 
few moments, a commentary he has written, dated October 1, 2005. If you 
would indulge me to read that, I think it will give us some 
enlightenment to where we are. He says:

       To get out of a difficulty, one usually must go through it. 
     Our country is now facing the most serious threat to its 
     existence, as we know it, that we have faced in your lifetime 
     and mine (which includes WWII).
       The deadly seriousness is greatly compounded by the fact 
     that there are very few of us who think we can possibly lose 
     this war, and even fewer who realize what losing really 
     means.
       First, let's examine a few basics. When did the threat to 
     us start? Many will say September 11, 2001. The answer, as 
     far as the United States is concerned, is 1979--22 years 
     prior to September 2001--with the following attacks on us:
       Iran Embassy Hostages, 1979; Beirut, Lebanon, Embassy, 
     1983; Beirut, Lebanon, Marine Barracks, 1983; Lockerbie, 
     Scotland, Pan-Am flight to New York, 1988; First New York 
     World Trade Center attack, 1993; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 
     Khobar Towers Military complex, 1996; Nairobi, Kenya, U.S. 
     Embassy, 1998; Dares Salaam, Tanzania, U.S. Embassy, 1998; 
     Aden, Yemen, USS Cole, 2000; New York, World Trade Center, 
     2001; Pentagon, 2001; and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, Plane 
     Crash, 2001
       Why were we attacked: Envy of our position, our success, 
     and our freedoms. The attacks happened during the 
     administration of Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, 
     and Bush. We cannot fault either the Republicans or 
     Democrats, as there were no provocations by any of the 
     Presidents or their immediate predecessors, Presidents Ford 
     or Carter.
       Who were the attackers? In each case, the attacks on the 
     U.S. were carried out by Muslims. What is the Muslim 
     population of the World? Twenty-five percent. Isn't the 
     Muslin Religion peaceful? Hopefully, but that is really not 
     material. There is no doubt that the predominantly Christian 
     population of Germany was peaceful, but under the dictatorial 
     leadership of Hitler (who was also Christian), that made no 
     difference. You either went along with the administration, or 
     you were eliminated.
       Although Hitler kept the world focused on the Jews, he had 
     no hesitancy about killing anyone who got in his way of 
     exterminating the Jews, or of taking over the world--German, 
     Christian, or any others.
       Same with the Muslim terrorists. They focus the attention 
     of the world on the U.S., but kill all in the way--their own 
     people, or the Spanish, French, or anyone else. The point 
     here, is that just like the peaceful Germans were of no 
     protection to anyone from the Nazis, no matter how many 
     peaceful Muslins there may be, they are no protection for us 
     from the terrorist Muslim leaders, and what they are 
     fanatically bent on doing--by their own pronouncements--
     killing all of us ``infidels.'' I don't blame the peaceful 
     Muslins. What would you do--if the choice was shut up, or 
     die?
       So who are we at war with? There is no way we can honestly 
     respond that it is anyone other than the Muslim terrorists. 
     Trying to be politically correct, and avoid verbalizing this 
     conclusion can well be fatal. There is no way to win, if you 
     don't clearly recognize, and articulate who you are fighting.

[[Page 25880]]

       So with that background, now to the two major questions: 
     Can we lose this war? What does losing really mean? If we are 
     to win, we must clearly answer these two pivotal questions.
       We can definitely lose this war, and as anomalous as it may 
     sound, the major reason we can lose is that so many of us 
     simply do not fathom the answer to the second question--
     ``What does losing mean?''
       It would appear that a great many of us think that losing 
     the war means hanging our heads, bringing the troops home, 
     and going on about our business, like post-Vietnam. This is 
     as far from the truth as one can get. What losing really 
     means is: We would no longer be the premier country in the 
     world. The attacks will not subside, but rather will steadily 
     increase. Remember, they want us dead, not just quiet. If 
     they had just wanted us quiet, they would not have produced 
     an increasing series of attacks against us, over the past 18 
     years. The plan was clearly, for terrorists to attack us, 
     until we were neutered, and submissive to them.
       We would, of course, have no future support from other 
     nations, for fear of reprisals, and for the reason that they 
     would see that we are impotent, and cannot help them.
       They will pick off the other non-Muslim nations, one at a 
     time. It will be increasingly easier for them. They already 
     hold Spain hostage. It doesn't matter whether it was right or 
     wrong for Spain to withdraw its troops from Iraq. Spain did 
     it because the Muslim terrorists bombed their train, and told 
     them to withdraw the troops. Anything else they want Spain to 
     do, will be done.
       The next will probably be France. Our one hope on France is 
     that they might see the light and realize that if we don't 
     win, they are finished too, in that they can't resist the 
     Muslim terrorists without us. However, it may already be too 
     late for France.
       If we lose the war, our production, income, exports, and 
     way of life will all vanish, as we know it. After losing, who 
     would trade or deal with us, if they are threatened by the 
     Muslims?
       If we can't stop the Muslims, how could anyone else?
       The Muslims [Islamo-fascists] fully know what is riding on 
     this war, and therefore, are completely committed to winning, 
     at any cost. We better know it too, and be likewise committed 
     to winning at any cost.
       Why do I go on at such lengths about the results of losing? 
     Simple. Until we recognize the costs of losing, we cannot 
     unite, and really put 100 percent of our thoughts and efforts 
     into winning. And, it is going to take that 100 percent 
     effort to win.
       So, how can we lose the war?
       Again, the answer is simple. We can lose the war by 
     ``imploding.'' That is, defeating ourselves, by refusing to 
     recognize the enemy and their purpose, and really digging in 
     and lending full support to the war effort. If we are united, 
     there is no way that we can lose. If we continue to be 
     divided, there is no way that we can win!
       Let me give you a few examples of how we simply don't 
     comprehend the life-and-death seriousness of this situation.
       President Bush selects Norman Mineta as Secretary of 
     Transportation. Although all of the terrorist attacks were 
     committed by Muslim men between 17 and 40 years of age, 
     Secretary Mineta refuses to allow profiling. Does that sound 
     like we are taking this thing seriously?
       This is war! For the duration, we are going to have to give 
     up some of the civil rights we have become accustomed to. We 
     had better be prepared to lose some of our civil rights 
     temporarily, or we will most certainly lose all of them, 
     permanently.
       And, don't worry that it is a slippery slope. We gave up 
     plenty of civil rights during WWII, and immediately restored 
     them after the victory, and in fact, added many more since 
     then.
       Do I blame President Bush or President Clinton before him?
       No, I blame us for blithely assuming we can maintain all of 
     our Political Correctness, and all of our civil rights during 
     this conflict, and have a clean, lawful, honorable war. None 
     of those words apply to war. Get them out of your head.
       Some have gone so far in their criticism of the war and/or 
     the Administration that it almost seems they would literally 
     like to see us lose. I hasten to add that this isn't because 
     they are disloyal. It is because they don't recognize what 
     losing means. Nevertheless, that conduct gives the impression 
     to the enemy that we are divided and weakening. It concerns 
     our friends, and it does great damage to our cause.
       Of more recent vintage, the uproar fueled the politicians 
     and media regarding the treatment of some prisoners of war, 
     perhaps exemplifies best what I am saying.
       We have recently had an issue, involving the treatment of a 
     few Muslim prisoners of war, by a small group of our military 
     police.

  By the way, all of those have gone to trial or are going to trial, 
and will be punished.

  Again, these are MG Chong's words:

       These are the type of prisoners, who just a few months ago, 
     were throwing their own people off buildings, cutting off 
     their hands, cutting out their tongues, and otherwise 
     murdering their own people, just for disagreeing with Saddam 
     Hussein.
       And just a few years ago, these same types of prisoners 
     chemically killed 400,000 of their own people for the same 
     reason. They are also the same type of enemy fighters who 
     recently were burning Americans, and dragging their charred 
     corpses through the streets of Iraq.
       And still more recently, the same type of enemy that was, 
     and is, providing videos to all news sources internationally, 
     of the beheading of American prisoners they held.
       Compare this with some of our press and politicians, who, 
     for several days, have thought and talked about nothing else 
     but the ``humiliating'' of some Muslim prisoners--not burning 
     them, not dragging their charred corpses through the streets, 
     not beheading them, but ``humiliating'' them.
        Can this be for real?
       If this doesn't show the complete lack of comprehension and 
     understanding of the seriousness of the enemy we are 
     fighting, the life and death struggle we are in, and the 
     disastrous results of losing this war, nothing can.
       To bring our country to a virtual political standstill over 
     this prisoner issue makes us look like Nero playing his 
     fiddle, as Rome burned--totally oblivious to what is going on 
     in the real world. Neither we, nor any other country, can 
     survive this internal strife.
       Again I say, this does not mean that some of our 
     politicians or media people are disloyal. It simply means 
     that they are absolutely oblivious to the magnitude of the 
     situation we are in, and into which the Muslim terrorists 
     have been pushing us, for many years.
       Remember, the Muslim terrorists' stated goal is to kill all 
     infidels! That translates into all non-Muslims--not just in 
     the United States, but throughout the world.
       We are the last bastion of defense.
       We have been criticized, for many years, as being 
     ``arrogant.'' That charge is valid, in at least one respect. 
     We are arrogant in that we believe that we are so good, 
     powerful, and smart; that we can win the hearts and minds of 
     all those who attack us; and that with both hands tied behind 
     our back, we can defeat anything bad in the world.
       We can't.
       If we don't recognize this, our Nation as we know it, will 
     not survive, and no other free country in the world will 
     survive, if we are defeated.
       And finally, name any Muslim countries throughout the world 
     that allow freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of 
     religion, freedom of the press, equal rights for anyone--let 
     alone everyone, equal status, or any status for women.
       This has been a long way of saying that we must be united 
     on this war, or we will be equated in the history books to 
     the self-inflicted fall of the Roman Empire. If, that is, the 
     Muslim leaders will allow history books to be written, or 
     read.
       Democracies don't have their freedoms taken away from them 
     by some external military force. Instead, they give their 
     freedoms away, politically correct piece by politically 
     correct piece.
       And, they are giving those freedoms away to those who have 
     shown, worldwide, that they abhor freedom, and will not apply 
     it to you, or even to themselves, once they are in power.
       They have universally shown that when they have taken over, 
     they then start brutally killing each other, over who will be 
     the few who control the masses. Will we ever stop hearing 
     from the politically correct, about the ``peaceful Muslims''?
       I close on a hopeful note, by repeating what I said above. 
     If we are united, there is no way that we can lose. I hope 
     the factions in our country will begin to focus on the 
     critical situation we are in, and will unite to save our 
     country. It is your future we are talking about! Do whatever 
     you can to preserve it.
       After reading the above, we all must do this not only for 
     ourselves, but our children, our grandchildren, our country, 
     and the World.
       Whether Democrat or Republican, conservative or liberal, 
     and that includes the politicians and media of our country, 
     and the free World!

  Those are the words of retired MG Vernon Chong, U.S. Air Force.
  I think it brings to mind the very important facts that face us 
today. We are at war. The war is real. The threats to our country and 
to our freedom are real. We must come together as a nation and 
recognize this threat, or we stand to lose the very principles, the 
very freedom, we each cherish so much.
  I yield the floor.

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