[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Pages 4072-4073]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 AVOID MILITARY CONFRONTATION WITH IRAN

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Madam Speaker, any voice of reason inside the current 
administration is a voice in the wilderness, a voice that will be 
silenced by the President, all of which should be a matter of grave 
urgency for the American people.
  The administration has set its sights on military confrontation with 
Iran. Just like Iraq, any voice of reason will not be merely muffled; 
it will be silenced.
  Remember Colin Powell? Where is he? Remember General Shinseki? He was 
drummed out for speaking truth to power about what it would really take 
to win in Iraq.
  Now Admiral Fallon, the Secretary of Defense, wouldn't return phone 
calls until the Admiral got the message to turn in his resignation 
because he questioned the President's policy toward Iran.
  The President's foreign policy is open hostility and a finger on the 
trigger

[[Page 4073]]

looking for any provocation for a military strike against Iran. That's 
what the neocons want; that's what co-President Dick Cheney wants.
  Their thirst for oil is matched only by their thirst for war. They 
think the U.S. will dominate the world with military confrontation. 
They are the only ones who believe that. We must keep the pressure on 
to ensure the President does not launch another war. Four thousand have 
already died.
  That's enough.

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