[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Page 17690]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PRESIDENT'S 9/11 SPEECH

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I was honored to join with President Bush 
and others at the Pentagon yesterday to commemorate the fifth 
anniversary of 9/11. I was pleased, also to join my colleagues on the 
east steps of the Capitol last evening in an emotional tribute to those 
who died on that fateful day 5 years ago.
  Mr. President, 9/11 was one of the darkest days of this Nation's 
history. It brought America together. We were inspired by the bravery 
of our fellow Americans. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the 
President. And when he stood upon the mound of rubble at Ground Zero, 
with a bullhorn in hand, he spoke for all of us.
  Last night, however, the President, in his address to the Nation, 
spoke for himself, for his administration, and not for the Nation. No 
bullhorn, only the bully pulpit of his office, which he used to defend 
an unpopular war in Iraq and to launch clumsily disguised barbs at 
those who disagree with his policies.
  By focusing on Iraq in the manner he did, the President engaged in an 
all-too-familiar Bush administration tactic: conflate and blur the war 
in Iraq with the response to 9/11.
  Despite definitive and repeated findings that there were no ties 
between Iraq and al-Qaida--a finding most recently echoed by the 
Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee--the President 
continued to deliberately lump and blur al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, 
Iraq, and 9/11 together.
  This is a political move designed to tap the overwhelming public 
sentiment to destroy al-Qaida as a way to bolster sagging public 
support for the war in Iraq.
  Despite the President's best efforts, the American people can see 
through this ploy--as we have seen with the pundits' comments following 
his speech and editorials all across the country today. The American 
people understand that Iraq is largely a sectarian struggle and that 
the longer we are bogged down in the streets of Baghdad, the easier it 
is for al-Qaida and its affiliates to reconstitute in places such as 
Afghanistan and Somalia.
  Americans understand that this administration's ``stay the course'' 
strategy is hurting our security and moving Iraq in the wrong 
direction. Unemployment in Iraq is high. It is 40 to 50 percent 
unemployment, at least. Some places, it is 70 and 80 percent.
  News accounts today say that inflation is now 75 percent in Iraq. An 
average of a thousand Iraqis are dying each month in Iraq. Is that a 
civil war? I think so. News accounts, the last couple of days--one, in 
fact, today said: ``Iraq conflict worsens.'' The General Accounting 
Office, the watchdog of Congress, a nonpartisan organization, said that 
the Iraq conflict worsens.
  We heard two days ago an Army general saying that the Anbar province 
is lost. We have a general, even before he is retired, saying that 
Secretary Rumsfeld said he would fire anyone who tried to develop a 
plan after the soldiers went into Iraq. He would fire them. There was 
no planning as to how the peace would take place.
  The American people deserved better last night. They deserved a break 
from the politics that honored the spirit of 9/11, a chance to reclaim 
that sense of unity, purpose, and patriotism which swept through our 
country 5 years ago--feelings only the Commander in Chief could have 
inspired, that he should have tried to inspire. He didn't. Last night 
was not the time for a political partisan speech. Sadly, it was a 
missed opportunity for President Bush, who obviously was more consumed 
by staying the course in Iraq and playing election year partisan 
politics than changing the direction for this wonderful country.
  I yield the floor.

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