[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 19787]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE

  (Mr. PASCRELL asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PASCRELL. Mr. Speaker, one of President Bush's most used 
justification for the war in Iraq has been that it is central to 
winning the war on terror, but the National Intelligence Estimate tells 
a completely different story.
  Al Qaeda has only gained strength since the United States invasion of 
Iraq in March of 2003, and al Qaeda has regenerated in Pakistan along 
its border with Afghanistan, a reality that may have something to do 
with the fact that the great majority of our troops and resources are 
fighting an ill-conceived war in Iraq instead of finishing the job we 
started in Afghanistan.
  The sad truth is that when our Nation undertook Operation Enduring 
Freedom after the horrific attacks of 
9/11, we had al Qaeda on the run. We had them on the verge of being 
dismantled.
  President Bush decided to alter our mission at a critical time and 
send our brave men and women to Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11, 
to fight a war that has been a detriment to the war on terror.
  President Bush had al Qaeda on the ropes. He threw them a life 
preserver. They were weak, and today they're stronger, according to the 
report.
  So to President Bush, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle 
who want to stay the course, I simply ask why? Why would we want to 
continue a war that the American people want to end?

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