[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24073]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE IRAQ WAR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 4, 2007, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett) is recognized 
during morning-hour debate for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, the troop surge in Iraq has clearly 
failed. It has failed to achieve its purpose. The troop surge has 
failed not because of our troops, but because of the failures of 
politicians here in Washington and in Iraq. This President's surge has 
been as successful as the President's boast to catch Osama bin Laden 
``dead or alive.''
  We now have three reports from entities at least somewhat independent 
from the Bush propaganda machine that confirm the obvious. The National 
Intelligence Estimate providing the thinking of the intelligence 
community that, instead of getting better, the situation in Iraq will 
get worse: ``The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the 
next 6 to 12 months.'' The Independent Commission on Security Forces 
concluded that the Iraqi Interior Ministry is ``dysfunctional.'' It is 
so bad that it cannot be fixed; they recommend that it be disbanded. 
The Government Accountability Office evaluated the surge, and it judged 
President Bush's policy using his own criteria with a clear ``F,'' a 
clear failure, a fiasco, a fatal flop, with only 3 of 18 benchmarks 
having been met.
  Today, General Petraeus can cite whatever selective statistics that 
his political bosses may permit him to disclose, but the facts are that 
each and every month this year has involved more deaths of American 
troops than each month, including August last year. And despite the 
ethnic cleansing that has already displaced 3.5 million Iraqis, the 
increasing violence continues to inflict an increasingly deadly toll on 
Iraqi families.
  What is life like for those Iraqis who survive? Almost half earn less 
than $1 a day; 70 percent lack access to adequate water; and \1/3\ 
remain in dire need of emergency food aid.
  When the surge was announced, the White House said ``wait until the 
summer.'' And as summer approached, the White House said ``wait until 
September.'' Well, now that this much overrated September is here, they 
cry ``wait until next year.''
  The only real mystery about President Bush's September decision has 
been what new excuse he would offer to justify staying the same old 
deadly course. And as the American people have seen through the 
duplicity of each and every other excuse, the President has returned to 
his original ploy: 9/11, coincidentally, just as we receive this report 
on the anniversary of 9/11. He claims that ``the same folks that are 
bombing . . . in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on 
September 11.'' That is false and he knows it is false. But fear with 
deception is all he has left to rationalize the pain of the many, the 
sacrifice of the brave, and the loss of $3 billion every single week.
  As usual, this President is dead certain and dead wrong. What he 
seeks is war without limits, war without end. Under his direction, 
General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker propose a war that continues 
for probably another decade, the ``George Bush Trillion dollar, 15-Year 
War.''
  Now Congress must respond to the President's propaganda surge with a 
truth surge, with a memory surge, reminding America of the repeated 
false cries of ``progress'' and phony excuses that have only brought 
our families more insecurity. Congress must learn from the courage 
continually displayed by our troops. Appeasement will not stop these 
wrong-headed Administration policies. More blank checks will only drain 
our national treasury while fueling more death and destruction that 
only endangers American families.
  And so today we note the surge has failed, but we respectfully and 
sincerely thank General Petraeus and all of our troops who serve 
America and are doing their jobs. But we know we must do our job. It is 
long past time for Congress to act. Our best hope remains a safe and 
orderly, fully-funded, phased redeployment that begins immediately.

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