[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11191-11192]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       IMAGE OF THE UNITED STATES

  (Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, a respected opinion poll, just released, 
shows that the image of the United States has been seriously damaged 
around the world as we attacked and occupied Iraq.
  The U.S. war against Iraq as seen worldwide is a threat to world 
peace. The poet Robert Burns once wrote,

[[Page 11192]]

``Oh, would some power God give us to see ourselves as others see us.'' 
Because the world is interconnected and interdependent, it would be 
helpful for us to see why the people of other nations, especially those 
who have been our friends, not only oppose our actions in Iraq but also 
question the so-called war on terror.
  We have lost so much for a war based on lies. Right after 9/11, many 
asked, why do ``they'' hate us? That was the time to begin reaching out 
to unite the world in our common aspiration for safety and security. 
Not through war and occupation, but through truth and reconciliation.
  The human unity which we celebrate as a Nation under God should 
remind us that the God which watches over the United States watches 
over the entire world. We can bomb to pieces but we cannot bomb the 
world to peace.
  This is the time for us to try again to unite the world in our common 
aspiration for peace and for human unity.

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