[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 14103-14105]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  IRAQ AND THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise this morning to address 
America's ongoing efforts in Iraq and the larger war on terrorism.
  Our Nation continues its steadfast resolve to bring security and 
prosperity to the Iraqi people, and President Bush is leading that 
effort with the help of this Congress and the American people.
  Amidst press reports, which are generally not reflective of the most 
important things going on in Iraq, I want to review some recent 
successes that highlight the progress we are making.
  BG Kurt Cichowski, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, Plans and 
Assessment of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, recently announced that 
the Iraqi security forces will assume full control of the southern 
Muthanna. According to General Cichowski:

       The transfer of security responsibility from U.S. forces to 
     the Iraqi security forces clearly demonstrates an Iraqi 
     success and signifies a tangible beginning to a new phase in 
     the history of this nation.

  Muthanna is the first of Iraq's 18 provinces to be fully transferred 
from coalition to Iraqi security forces control. This latest move is a 
result of joint evaluation and collaboration between the provincial 
governor and the coalition ground commander and clearly represents 
another turning point in our efforts in Iraq.
  Further, recent successes in joint raid operations dramatically 
demonstrate the real progress we are making on the ground against the 
insurgents. This past Friday, joint raids were conducted on a building 
which had been used as a base of operation by Abu Deraa, a top 
commander of the Shiite militia. The Department of Defense reported the 
killing or wounding of between 30 and 40 militia gunmen and the capture 
of a high-level militia commander. That same day, Iraqi police officers 
captured yet another top insurgent commander who is believed to have 
been involved in smuggling weapons, bankrolling terrorists, and 
launching attacks against American troops. This is the kind of progress 
we are making on which, for whatever reason, the media chooses not to 
focus.
  Only yesterday, Iraqi Ambassador Khalilzad, addressing the Center for 
Strategic and International Relations here in Washington, spoke with 
justifiable pride and confidence concerning Iraq's future and its 
ability to meet the challenges of governing a previously divided 
nation.
  Let me quote liberally from some of what the Ambassador said:

       Today, Sunni Arabs are full participants in the political 
     process, with their representation in the national assembly 
     now proportional to their share of the population . . . they 
     have largely come to see the United States as an honest 
     broker in helping Iraq's communities come together around a 
     process and a plan to stabilize the country.

  He also noted that:

       al Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly weakened during the 
     past year . . . which has coincided with the inauguration of 
     Iraq's

[[Page 14104]]

     first ever government of national unity . . . and the recent 
     announcement by Prime Minister Maliki of his government's 
     National Reconciliation and Dialogue Project.

  The Ambassador also reported that:

       [A] chasm has been developing between al Qaeda and those 
     Sunni Arabs in Iraq who have been part of the armed 
     opposition. Previously, many Sunni Arab insurgents saw al 
     Qaeda's operations as beneficial for their own cause. Now, 
     the Sunni Arabs increasingly understand that the terrorists 
     are not interested in the future of Iraq and that al Qaeda's 
     leaders see Iraqis as cannon fodder in an effort to instigate 
     a war of civilizations. More and more, Iraqi Sunni Arab 
     insurgents reject the cynical game. Osama bin Laden's 
     specific denunciation of Sunni Arab political leaders, such 
     as Vice President Tareg Hashami, and recently captured 
     documents indicate that al Qaeda's leadership knows that they 
     are losing ground as a result of Iraq's reconciliation 
     process. They know that if reconciliation goes further and 
     begins to hollow out the Sunni Arab armed opposition, it is a 
     mortal threat to their terrorist movement.

  Let me say about Ambassador Khalilzad, having been to Iraq on four 
occasions myself, having met with the Ambassador each time I was there, 
plus having met with him previously when he was in Afghanistan, and on 
other occasions when he was here, this man is extremely well respected 
by the Iraqis. He is the right man in the right place to help improve 
America's image and to continue the dialogue with the Iraqis to make 
sure that we move that country forward in a democratic process.
  Some would have us ignore these successes or simply never hear of 
them. Some would have us abandon these noble efforts and those of well 
over 100,000 service members working every day to bring about a 
peaceful Iraq. But the cost of doing so is too high, the consequences 
too horrible. We simply cannot permit the villainous hand of terrorism 
to strangle America's resolve and snuff out the coalition and Iraqi 
successes which are bringing hope to the hopeless and victory to the 
previously subjugated people of Iraq.
  Iraq remains absolutely central to the war on terror. On June 7, 
2006, American and coalition forces dealt a powerful blow to the 
terrorists when they killed the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Musab 
al-Zarqawi. The elimination of al-Zarqawi, who had claimed 
responsibility for attacks on U.S. citizens since 2002, is a major 
victory in our global war on terrorism as our counterterrorism forces, 
together with our intelligence community, demonstrated our tenacity, 
our capabilities, and our intent to winning this war on terror.
  While we continue to identify, capture, and kill terrorists and 
prevent them from turning Iraq's fragile democracy into a lawless 
training ground from which they can launch attacks against our homeland 
and against their own peaceful citizens, we must not forget that this 
is, indeed, a global war on terrorism. Only yesterday did the world 
witness a tragic terrorist event in the world's largest democracy, 
India, where seven nearly simultaneous bombings killed more than 100 
innocent people and injured hundreds more on the Mumbai commuter rail. 
This heinous act of terrorism is sadly too familiar. It was just 1 year 
ago that al-Qaida perpetrated the synchronized bombings in London, 
killing over 50 people and wounding hundreds more.
  Terrorists are still seeking to kill Americans with similar attacks 
on our own soil. Just last week, we learned that the FBI, working 
together with their counterparts in Lebanon, arrested an individual in 
a plot to detonate explosives in the Holland Tunnel in New York City. 
Earlier this month, the FBI arrested seven suspects of an al-Qaida-
inspired group in Miami for their efforts to wage jihad against 
Americans and for plotting to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago, IL. 
Even in my home State of Georgia, alleged terrorists, again inspired by 
al-Qaida's violent ideology, in collaboration with their counterparts 
in Canada, Europe, and South Asia, were planning attacks in the United 
States.
  Despite these and other activities to attack our homeland, there has 
not been a single terrorist attack on U.S. soil since September 11. 
This is due to this administration's policy of taking the fight to the 
terrorists, denying them sanctuary in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, 
working closely with our foreign partners, and strengthening our 
Nation's counterterrorism capabilities.
  The world changed on September 11, 2001, demonstrating that it is 
vitally important that the President of the United States has the power 
and authority to protect the American people from future acts of 
terrorism. Programs such as the Terrorist Surveillance Program or the 
Terrorist Finance Tracking Program which, based on intelligence leads, 
carefully targets terrorist communications or financial transactions, 
are essential tools in the war on terror. If there are people talking 
or communicating with terrorists, plotting against Americans, or 
sending money to help al-Qaida, then we need to know about it.
  We know too well that terrorists are able to sneak into a country and 
hide among law-abiding citizens. Too often, we have witnessed the 
horror they cause in places such as Iraq, Tel Aviv, Madrid, London, and 
unfortunately, in the United States. It is abundantly clear that these 
types of important programs are necessary to address the previous flaws 
in our early warning system that allowed at least two of the September 
11 murderers to live among us.
  These vital programs make it more likely that terrorists will be 
identified and located in time to prevent another disaster.
  These efforts and capabilities are winning the war on terrorism and 
keeping Americans safe. Unfortunately, unauthorized disclosures of some 
of these most sensitive investigations and programs are undermining our 
abilities and providing vital information to those killers who 
continuously seek to do us harm. The disclosure of our intelligence 
operations places our personnel, sources, and methods at risk. These 
operations are our first line of national security defense. The 
Government classifies information regarding our intelligence activities 
for a reason. When terrorists know how we are tracking them, they 
change the way they operate, making it harder to catch them. That makes 
this Nation less safe.
  Osama bin Laden was clear in his intent to continue to wage Jihad 
against America and peace-loving people worldwide when he said in his 
recent videotaped message released on June 30, 2006:

       We will continue to fight you and your allies everywhere, 
     in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Sudan to run down your 
     resources and kill your men until you return defeated to your 
     Nation.

  As bin Laden makes clear, al-Qaida is still seeking to kill Americans 
and innocent people worldwide, and they are spreading their message of 
hate and murder through the media and Internet. But America will not be 
defeated. This is a war we cannot and will not lose. We must put an end 
to the unauthorized leaks of sensitive information that aids our 
enemies in their plans to kill Americans and avoid capture. We must 
also continue to improve our counterterrorism efforts, finding new ways 
to disrupt enemy planning, eliminate terrorists from the battlefield, 
and strengthen collaboration within our intelligence, defense, and 
homeland security organizations.
  Our intelligence community, the Department of Defense, and law 
enforcement organizations across this Nation remain vigilant, and we 
owe our support and a debt of gratitude to these dedicated men and 
women who are on the front line of the global war on terror. We are 
indeed winning, but as it has been pointed out, this is a long war. The 
President is leading that effort with the help of this Congress, and 
together we are keeping Americans safe.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a 
quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT Pro Tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

[[Page 14105]]



                          ____________________