[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 32252]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1815
                     THE SO-CALLED SURGE HAS FAILED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, I was pleased to participate in a joint hearing that took 
testimony from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. It was supposed 
to be a turning point in the occupation of Iraq. The purpose of this 
hearing was to get a report from our military and diplomatic leaders 
about the record of the so-called surge or escalation in Iraq.
  Let's first look at what the main purpose of the escalation really 
was. According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Michael 
Mullen, the surge was to give space for political reconciliation. I 
quote him here: ``Security is critical to providing the Government of 
Iraq the breathing space it needs to work toward political national 
reconciliation and economic growth. Barring that, no amount of troops 
in no amount of time will make much of a difference.''
  The President celebrates that there has been a short-term downward 
trend in violence. Of course that would happen. When we put our 
fighting men and women, the best in the world, on the ground in greater 
and greater numbers, of course they will bring some form of order. But 
let's be realistic. This is not sustainable. We cannot keep the same 
number of troops for very much longer. We simply do not have the 
resources to do so, and our troops should not have such a task.
  So, yes, they are temporarily keeping a lid on the uprising and 
attacks. In fact, they've reached back to 2006 numbers, which at that 
time appalled us, and it should not be something we celebrate today. We 
are missing our ultimate goal. Like the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs 
said, the purpose of the surge was political reconciliation. If the 
White House put even half of the resources, political and fiscal, 
behind political reconciliation, we would be in a much different place 
right now. We would have a stable and inclusive Iraqi national 
government, not one propped up by the United States. It would have the 
support of the Iraqi people, and it would be providing strength and 
dependable security. That, Mr. Speaker, is not what we have. In fact, 
just last month, a new deal called the Declaration of Principles was 
inked between President Bush and Prime Minister al-Maliki. It's 
basically a blueprint to keep our troops in Iraq indefinitely, and it 
allows permanent bases.
  It may even provide for arming insurgent security forces, which 
actually looks like arming a militia. The last time we got into the 
business of arming folks, we ended up with the Taliban. Are we ever 
going to learn the lesson not to repeat the mistakes of the past? It 
will be interesting to see how the two leaders will try to jam this 
latest agreement down the throats of the Iraqi Parliament because the 
Iraqi Parliament has clearly stated that they are not pleased with the 
agreement, to say the very least. Let's take a good look at what's 
going on: The surge has failed. The new White House agreement would 
keep our troops in Iraq indefinitely. This is not the road to success. 
This will not make America safer.
  Mr. Speaker, it's time for bold action. Our friends in the other 
Chamber and the resident down the road on Pennsylvania Avenue need to 
face up to reality. Let's act boldly and fulfill our mandate. It's time 
to end this misguided occupation. It's time to bring our troops home.

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