[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16001]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    TIME FOR A NEW DIRECTION IN IRAQ

  (Mr. McGOVERN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, sadly, the war in Iraq is escalating 
daily. In the first 6 months of 2006, more than 350 American soldiers 
were killed in action and over 2,400 wounded. This means the United 
States lost the equivalent of five battalions' worth of ground forces 
during the period Iraqi political leaders squabbled over how to form a 
government.
  And while forming a government was a positive step, it has made 
little difference in the daily lives of most Iraqis. Violence has 
escalated and claims more and more Iraqi lives. According to the U.N., 
over 14,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in the first 6 months of 2006, 
including 5,800 in May and June alone. States of emergency, curfews and 
military operations have not stabilized the country. There are more 
insurgents, more foreign fighters and more attacks. The signs of 
sectarian and ethnic cleansing are everywhere. President Bush has said 
he is going to deploy more troops into Baghdad.
  Mr. Speaker, 2006 was supposed to be a year of significant transition 
in Iraq. But the U.S. remains on the defensive, caught in a civil war.
  Mr. Speaker, this war is a miserable failure. It is time for a new 
direction in Iraq.

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