[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 14]
[House]
[Page 20225]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             PLANNED DEFEAT

  (Mr. POE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. POE. Madam Speaker, the war in Iraq is the most difficult and 
important issue facing our Nation today. The stakes there are simply 
too high for us to ignore the consequences of failure. Most military 
analysts agree that an arbitrary immediate withdrawal from Iraq would 
spiral that country and the surrounding region into chaos.
  Failing to secure Iraq will provide a fertile ground for terrorist 
actions that affect not only Iraq, but America and the rest of the free 
world. Extremist organizations will tout an American retreat as a major 
victory for terrorism. Once again saying that America doesn't ever have 
the stomach to finish a war. Terrorist leaders will make use of a 
fractured Iraq to train, equip, and provide sanctuary for their forces 
in much the same way that Afghanistan provided a haven for the Taliban 
and al Qaeda. Radicals will exploit the anarchy and abandon Iraq and 
will seek to spread jihadist movements to moderate Arab States. 
Arbitrary withdrawal will only encourage our enemy.
  War is hard, but a planned defeat by retreat is hardly an answer to 
success.
  And that's just the way it is.

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