[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10630]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      A CALL FOR SHARED SACRIFICE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 8, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to enter into the Record, an 
op-ed piece, entitled Consider the Living, published May 29, 2006 by 
Bob Herbert of the New York Times. Herbert eloquently points out the 
hypocrisy of the Bush administration on the issue of the war in Iraq. 
Herbert declares that the fastest way to end this war is to ``start 
sending the children of the well-to-do to Baghdad, and start raising 
taxes to pay of the many hundreds of billions that the war is 
costing.'' The claim that chaos would ensue if we pull out of Iraq is 
just an excuse to continue the reckless actions of the current 
administration. Recalling President Bush's challenge to the insurgents 
to ``bring 'em on,'' Herbert counters that we have lost nearly 2,500 
Americans in the war and tens of thousands of Iraqis, and they are 
still ``bringing 'em on.'' The ones suffering the most in the war are 
the non-combatants, Iraqi residents who are ``like sheep in a slaughter 
farm.'' Even after three years parts of Western Iraq are not under U.S. 
control. Is this what we are to looking forward to? Is the next three 
years going to cost us 2,500 more American lives as well as billions 
more of taxpayers money? Not to mention that casualties on the Iraqi 
side and the atrocities that are byproducts of war.
  My colleagues, I join Mr. Herbert in urging you to take decisive 
measures to bring a swift end to this fiasco. Let us stop this needless 
waste of lives.

                [From the New York Times, May 29, 2006]

                          Consider the Living

                            (By Bob Herbert)

       Pretty soon this war in Iraq will have lasted as long as 
     our involvement in World War II, with absolutely no evidence 
     of any sort of conclusion in sight.
       The point of Memorial Day is to honor the service and the 
     sacrifice of those who have given their lives in the nation's 
     wars. But I suggest that we take a little time today to 
     consider the living.
       Look around and ask yourself if you believe that stability 
     or democracy in Iraq--or whatever goal you choose to assert 
     as the reason for this war--is worth the life of your son or 
     your daughter, or your husband or your wife, or the co-worker 
     who rides to the office with you in the morning, or your 
     friendly neighbor next door.
       Before you gather up the hot dogs and head out to the 
     barbecue this afternoon, look in a mirror and ask yourself 
     honestly if Iraq is something you would be willing to die 
     for.
       There is no shortage of weaselly politicians and misguided 
     commentators ready to tell us that we can't leave Iraq--we 
     just can't. Chaos will ensue. Maybe even a civil war. But 
     what they really mean is that we can't leave as long as the 
     war can continue to be fought by other people's children, and 
     as long as we can continue to put this George W. Bush-
     inspired madness on a credit card.
       Start sending the children of the well-to-do to Baghdad, 
     and start raising taxes to payoff the many hundreds of 
     billions that the war is costing, and watch how quickly this 
     tragic fiasco is brought to an end.
       At an embarrassing press conference last week, President 
     Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain looked for all 
     the world like a couple of hapless schoolboys who, while 
     playing with fire, had set off a conflagration that is still 
     raging out of control. Their recklessness has so far cost the 
     lives of nearly 2,500 Americans and tens of thousands of 
     innocent Iraqis, many of them children.
       Among the regrets voiced by the president at the press 
     conference was his absurd challenge to the insurgents in 2003 
     to ``bring 'em on.'' But Mr. Bush gave no hint as to when the 
     madness might end.
       How many more healthy young people will we shovel into the 
     fires of Iraq before finally deciding it's time to stop?
       How many dead are enough?
       There is no good news coming out of Iraq. Sabrina Tavernise 
     of The Times recently wrote: ``In the latest indication of 
     the crushing hardships weighing on the lives of Iraqis, 
     increasing portions of the middle class seem to be doing 
     everything they can to leave the country.''
       The middle class is all but panicked at the inability of 
     the Iraqi government or American forces to quell the 
     relentless violence. Ms. Tavernise quoted a businessman who 
     is planning to move to Jordan: ``We're like sheep at a 
     slaughter farm.''
       Iraqis continue to be terrorized by kidnappers, roving 
     death squads and, in a term perhaps coined by Mr. Bush, 
     ``suiciders.''
       The American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, acknowledged 
     last week that even at this late date, there are parts of 
     western Iraq that are not controlled by American forces, but 
     rather ``are under the control of terrorists and 
     insurgents.''
       Now we get word that U.S. marines may have murdered two 
     dozen Iraqis in cold blood last November.
       No one should be surprised that such an atrocity could 
     occur. That's what happens in war. The killing gets out of 
     control, which is yet another reason why it's important to 
     have mature leaders who will do everything possible to avoid 
     war, rather than cavalierly sending the young and the healthy 
     off to combat as if it were no more serious an enterprise 
     than a big-time sporting event.
       Nothing new came out of the Bush-Blair press conference. 
     After more than three years these two men are as clueless as 
     ever about what to do in Iraq. Are we doomed to follow the 
     same pointless script for the next three years? And for three 
     years after that?
       Leadership does not get more pathetic than this. Once there 
     was F.D.R. and Churchill. Now there's Bush and Blair.
       Reacting to the allegations about the murder of civilians, 
     the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Michael Hagee, went 
     to Iraq last week to warn his troops about the danger of 
     becoming ``indifferent to the loss of a human life.''
       Somehow that message needs to be conveyed to the top 
     leaders of this country, and to the public at large. There is 
     no better day than Memorial Day to reflect on it. As we 
     remember the dead, we should consider the living, and stop 
     sending people by the thousands to pointless, unnecessary 
     deaths.

                          ____________________