[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 802]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NO ESCALATION OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Oregon (Mr. DeFazio) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, in a few hours the President will address 
the Nation and talk about his plan to escalate the war in Iraq, to try 
and salvage the abysmal failures of his administration and the 
unnecessary war which they sold to the Congress and the American 
people.
  Now, in leading up to this, just last month the President said, ``It 
is important to trust the judgment of the military when they are making 
military plans. I am a strict adherer to the command structure.'' 
President Bush.
  Well, I guess he is, because he is the commander-in-chief, and he is 
ignoring the advice of the uniformed services. The President's chief 
military advisers oppose this escalation in the war.
  General John Abizaid, who was then head of all U.S. forces in the 
Middle East, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee 
November 15, ``I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, 
the corps commander, General Dempsey. We all talked together. And I 
said, in your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more 
American troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve 
success in Iraq? And they all said no.''
  But the decider wasn't listening. The reason is because we want the 
Iraqis to do more. It is easy for the Iraqis to rely on us to do this 
work. I believe that more American forces prevent the Iraqis from doing 
more, from taking more responsibility for their own future.
  The President didn't like what he had heard, the decider being an 
adherer to the military chain of command, so General Abizaid is being 
shown the door. As a Lebanese American who is fluent in Arabic, I think 
his understanding of the region far exceeds that of any of the advisers 
that the President may be depending upon to make this misguided 
proposal to escalate the war.
  General Casey has also been removed as commander of U.S. forces in 
Iraq. It started with General Shinseki, who told the President he would 
need 500,000 troops to occupy the country and avoid the abyss into 
which we have fallen, a civil war, insurrection, insurgency. He also 
was fired because the decider didn't believe his advice.
  It is time to change course in Iraq.
  And the President is not only continuing a failed policy and sending 
more U.S. troops to a mission that is very unlikely to succeed, 
according to the advice of his uniformed commanders, who he is 
ignoring, he is also going to undermine the effort in Afghanistan.
  Things are going bad in Afghanistan. Remember, that is where Osama 
bin Laden planned 9/11. That is where the Taliban supported and 
harbored al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. We, with NATO and the world 
behind us, decided to take them out. Remember that? Osama bin Laden, 
dead or alive; dead or alive. You don't hear that from the White House 
much anymore.
  But Osama bin Laden is still planning attacks on the United States, 
and the one-eyed Omar is coming back to Kandahar. They are planning a 
spring offensive. They didn't withdraw this winter. The NATO forces are 
ineffectual. And what is the President's response? He is going to 
withdraw U.S. troops from that region.
  So we have the heart of darkness, Afghanistan, and the President is 
ignoring that problem to continue his failed policies in Iraq. No 
escalation of the war in Iraq by the adherer-decider, President Bush.

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