[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 1222-1223]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                  DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I wish to talk about the global war on 
terror here for the next few minutes, and to recount some very good 
progress we happen to be making in Iraq and that the Iraqis appear to 
be making. I realize that because the news is not as bad as it once 
was, it has now fallen off the front page of the newspaper. Yet I think 
it is very important not only to our national security but because we 
are being asked to support our men and women in uniform in a variety of 
ways that we keep close track of the developments occurring both in 
Afghanistan and in Iraq. That is the subject of my comments.
  First, I acknowledge a report from the Associated Press indicating 
that one of al-Qaida's top commanders in Afghanistan, and a key liaison 
of the Taliban, Abu Laith al-Libi, was apparently killed in military 
action at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Reports indicate he is 
actually the fourth person in command of the al-Qaida and the Taliban, 
right after Osama bin Laden, al-Zawahiri, and Mullah Omar, 
demonstrating that we continue to take the fight on the offensive 
against the very people who are responsible for perpetrating the murder 
of 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001.
  I believe one of the reasons why we have not had a repetition of that 
horrific day on our own soil is because of the skill of our men and 
women in uniform, the weapons we have equipped them with, and the 
intelligence they have been able to gather that allows us to detect and 
deter terrorist activities not only on our soil but in Afghanistan 
against ours and allied troops, as well as Iraq. I think that is a bit 
of good news that we ought to acknowledge.
  Secondly, let me say the reason I wanted to come to the floor was 
precipitated by my visit in January to both Afghanistan and Iraq, where 
I had a chance to not only meet with Texas troops who are fighting in 
both of those countries but also military commanders from my State and 
across the United States, and to learn more as a Senator and member of 
the Armed Services Committee about the progress in both Afghanistan and 
Iraq.
  I was pleased to meet with GEN Raymond Odierno, from Fort Hood, TX, 
who is basically the second in command for General Petraeus, head of 
Multinational Forces, and who I know will be returning, along with many 
Texans, to Fort Hood in February, much to his family's pleasure. I know 
after all the time General Odierno has spent in Iraq, his family will 
be glad he is coming home, and particularly after the good news that 
was reported to me there and that I want to summarize here.
  The good news is that, as General Odierno said in a story in the 
Washington Post, reported today, we are going to be bringing back about 
40,000 troops from the height of the surge until next summer, and then 
have what General Odierno called a strategic pause to sort of assess 
the stability of the military and security environment in Iraq. Of 
course, the hope is always that we can continue to bring more and more 
troops home, but as I heard in Iraq over and over, as the Iraqis stand 
up, we will stand down. That was the plan all along. But again, good 
news.
  General Odierno, in this article, was asked: Do you consider Iraq 
fragile? We have heard that phrase used over and over. While we have 
been successful, and the Iraqis have been successful, the conditions 
are still somewhat fragile. General Odierno was quoted in this article 
as saying: I think if we move forward with operational patience, it 
isn't that fragile. But he continued. I think if we leave tomorrow, it 
would be very fragile--which underscores, to my way of thinking, the 
importance of us drawing down our troops based on conditions on the 
ground and not based on some arbitrary or political timetable. If we 
did that, if we drew the troops down in a precipitous fashion based on 
some deadline we impose, without regard to circumstances on the ground, 
in General Odierno's terms, that would create a fragile security 
situation and perhaps even reverse the significant gains that have been 
made.
  We see another bit of good news, and this is in the Mideast Stars and 
Stripes today, that an operation led by Iraqi forces and supported by 
American troops has reopened the main highway linking Baghdad and Dyala 
Province after 16 months of being in insurgents' hands. That is good 
news, and another reversal for al-Qaida and the insurgency in Iraq.
  This chart indicates the locations of al-Qaida in Iraq in December 
2006 and the battle of Baghdad that led to the actual surge. You will 
see, Madam President, on my left here--to your right--the improvements 
demonstrated by the shrinking of the red areas, which indicates the 
presence of al-Qaida in Iraq in December of 2007. This is presurge; 
this is postsurge. Not only is this a surge of American troops, but 
during the same period of time in

[[Page 1223]]

which we surged additional American troops, there were an additional 
100,000 Iraqi policemen and military recruited and trained, as well as 
some 70,000 citizens in these concerned local citizen councils.
  We have heard about the Anbar awakening, where people who had thrown 
their cause in with al-Qaida had finally gotten tired of their barbaric 
practices and their treachery and had begun to cooperate with Americans 
and Iraqi forces. That has led to what I would call--some have called--
a concerned local citizens council. I have told people it reminds me of 
a neighborhood watch on steroids. What it does is provide intelligence 
as to the locations of improvised explosive devices, and perhaps 
insurgent or terrorist activity, which has allowed our troops and the 
Iraqi troops to work with the local citizens to help shrink the 
influence of al-Qaida in Iraq, as indicated by the comparison between 
this chart on my right in December of 2006, presurge, and postsurge 
2007, in December. So that is obviously good news.
  We also have four snapshots of sectarian violence in the city of 
Baghdad. You will recall that at one point we heard from some Members 
on the floor that the Iraqis were on the verge of a civil war because 
of the ethnosectarian violence. You will see here that from December 
2006, as indicated by the yellow and red, how much of Baghdad was 
consumed by sectarian violence. This, of course, had all along been the 
aim of al-Qaida, to incite the sectarian hatred and violence in a way 
that would consume Iraq. And we saw, in December 2006, that was 
unfortunately enormously successful. But you can see from December 2006 
to December 2007, presurge to postsurge, how these areas of yellow 
activity are shrunk, and virtually none of the red, the highly 
intensive sectarian violence, is occurring.
  So here we see, in a very remarkable contrast from presurge and 
postsurge, a reduction in ethnosectarian violence, a dramatic 
improvement, and perhaps best evidenced by the fact that many refugees 
are moving back from other places to their homes in these areas.
  Finally, perhaps most demonstrative of our success is these charts 
which indicate an overall drop in attack trends. This chart starts in 
December of 2006 and ends in December 2007, indicating a tremendous 
reduction--by about two-thirds--in the number of overall attacks in 
Iraq. Again, a significant improvement.
  I think those are all the charts I have, but let me say that I also 
acknowledge the tremendous success the Iraqis have made when it comes 
to political reconciliation. That is another thing that, of course, we 
all had hoped for. In our meetings with Iraqi leaders--Shiites, Sunnis, 
and Kurds--we said: Congratulations on the success of this surge of 
Iraqis and multinational forces, leading to an improved security 
situation. But Senator Coleman and Senator Isakson and I, in our visit 
there, told Iraqi leaders: Now you need to continue your political 
surge, now that the security situation has improved considerably.
  We know as a result of the improved security situation that the 
Iraqis have now begun a sort of political reconciliation, both at the 
local, or tribal, level and at the provincial level, which has led to 
greater security, but also at the national level. They have passed, 
finally, one of the benchmark pieces of legislation that many Members 
of Congress had urged them to pass from time to time, known as the 
debaathification reforms. The Iraqi Council representatives passed what 
they called the accountability and justice law, which represents a 
significant step forward in the political reconciliation between the 
various sects and bringing back into the Government, back into society, 
some of the baathists who are at the local level--after they have been 
vetted to make sure they are no longer a threat. Because of Saddam 
Hussein's influence, people could not teach in schools, could not 
engage in civil life unless they were a member of the Baath party. 
Well, thanks to the Iraqi Council of Representatives, they now have an 
opportunity to reengage in civic life in Iraq in a way that is very 
important.
  We also know the Iraqi leaders have passed a budget and an important 
pension law. Recently, Iraqi health care providers gathered in Baghdad 
for a 2-day medical conference, the first of its kind in more than 15 
years.
  Madam President, I know we have other colleagues wishing to speak 
here on the floor, and I am about through with my comments, but I think 
it is worth reminding ourselves and reminding the American people what 
the impact has been of this surge of American and Iraqi forces thanks 
to the counterinsurgency strategy devised and deployed by GEN David 
Petraeus. I had an opportunity to see General Petraeus and Ambassador 
Crocker in Baghdad. They are pleased with the success they have seen, 
both militarily and from a diplomatic perspective. But they obviously 
recognize that things still need to continue on the trend toward 
improved relations, and the Iraqis need to continue their political 
reconciliation.
  I think it is very important, as the story of Iraq tends to go from 
the front page to perhaps the middle of the newspaper, or from the top 
of the evening news into perhaps not even being the subject of a news 
story, that we recall for ourselves and for all Americans the 
contributions our brave men and women in uniform have made.
  This will not only protect our vital national security interests but 
make sure other people across the world, in places such as Afghanistan 
and Iraq, can enjoy the blessings of liberty. To me that has been one 
of the most noble things America has continued to contribute, even to 
people whom our young troops have not met, to be able to deliver to 
them the opportunity to live in peace and to achieve their potential.
  To me, that is one of the greatest things about this country of ours, 
that people will put themselves in harm's way, they will risk death 
itself or serious injury to help other people enjoy those blessings of 
liberty.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders.) The Senator from Washington.

                          ____________________