[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21751]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Sestak) is 
recognized during morning-hour debate for 2 minutes.
  Mr. SESTAK. I am here to speak about Iraq. Americans are tired of 
this war, but at the same time they want to secure the best of the 
situation for the perception of security not just in that region but 
globally.
  I watch the Republicans and our concern as Democrats is that they 
believe that our military might provide a solution in Iraq. I look at 
my party and my concern is that we need to stop the impure opposition 
and to begin to help craft, to help author an implementable, 
comprehensive Middle East/Persian Gulf security plan. But to do that, 
we obviously need a union with our Republican brethren.
  I honestly believe that when people talk about taking care of our 
troops, the belief is not that we use them in war when necessary but 
where and how we use them. There are the elements right now to begin to 
come together in a union to craft a comprehensive end to this tragic 
misadventure that can meet the goals of both sides.
  First, we have an army that is strained and by next April we will be 
at the point of almost irreparable harm for some years to come. Second, 
we know that in order to redeploy that army out of Iraq, it will take 
time. When the Soviet Union left Afghanistan with 120,000 troops, it 
took them 9 months and because of the ill preparation, 500 died on the 
way. We have 160,000 troops, 100,000 contractors. We must work well to 
get them to redeploy safely. They can only take in Kuwait two to two 
and a half brigades at a time. Forty combat equivalent brigades are in 
Iraq. The math comes out to a minimum of 18 to 24 months.
  Third, because of that time line we can use the last arrow in our 
arsenal we have not used, diplomacy. The road out of Iraq is through 
Tehran, Iran. If we have the ability as we slowly redeploy to bring 
together Iran to work for stability, we can have a comprehensive 
solution to this conflict.

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