[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4456-4457]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAQ

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, in this work period, we will, once again, 
because of the supplemental, turn to the raging civil war in Iraq.
  To say that the Bush-Cheney spin machine lacks credibility is an 
understatement as it relates to the war in Iraq.
  Last week, the President marked the beginning of the sixth year of 
this war by delivering more of the same disconnected rhetoric. But at 
the same time he was giving this talk of progress, the facts on the 
ground betrayed this happy-talk. As Republican Senator Chuck Hagel 
said, the President's words--compared with the real facts on the 
ground--are like ``Alice in Wonderland.'' That is what Senator Hagel 
said. The situation on the ground in Iraq is fluid and rapidly 
changing.
  Mr. President, I was stunned this morning when I got up and listened 
to the radio. Sadr has said: OK, lay down your arms on a couple 
conditions--release all the prisoners, don't do any more arrests, and 
leave us alone.
  Mr. President, within a couple of months after this war started, the 
commanders on the ground in Iraq came and told us that this man was a 
criminal and he would be in jail within a matter of a couple weeks. 
Now, whether that is true or not, that is up for others to decide, but 
that is what we were told. And here is this man now, 5 years later, who 
in effect is telling the elected leader of Iraq what to do and what not 
to do.
  It is clear that the Iraqi civil war persists. Within the past few 
days, nearly 1,000 Iraqis have been killed in Basra alone. This war is 
a war of Shiite versus Shiite, al-Maliki versus al-Sadr, Iraqi versus 
Iraqi, Sunni versus Shia, Shia versus Sunni. Who is in the middle of 
all of this? The American troops.
  The President's spokesperson said: This is it. We are now in a 
situation where the Iraqis are going to take care of their own. But, of 
course, the police, when confronted, turned over their arms to al-Sadr 
and walked away. They gave them their guns--I assume their badges--and 
walked away. The American troops were called in; air power and ground 
troops were called in. The Iraqis could not handle the situation.
  As one Iraq teacher said in the New York Times this weekend, in the 
closing paragraphs of a very long article:

       ``Unfortunately we were expecting one thing but we saw 
     something else,'' said Ali Hussam, 48, a teacher, who said 
     that after Saddam Hussein the people of Basra hoped for 
     peace. ``But unfortunately with the presence of this new 
     government and this democracy that was brought to us by the 
     invader it made us kill each other.''
       ``And the war is now between us,'' he said. But, 
     unfortunately, with the presence of this new government and 
     this democracy that was brought to us by the invader, it made 
     us kill each other.
       And the war is now between us.

  That is what he said:

       And the war is now between us.

  When the Vice President of the United States goes to Iraq, it is 
secret. No one knows he is going there. It is not on his schedule. He 
is under very high security. When the President of Iran goes to Iraq, 
he announces 2 weeks in advance he is coming--not in the dead of the 
night, 2 weeks in advance.
  I support our troops. Whenever I say something like that, I think of 
the Presiding Officer and others in this Chamber who know what it means 
to support

[[Page 4457]]

our troops, as someone who has carried weapons in support of his 
country and as someone who has been injured as a result of wearing the 
uniform of this country. So I say this with a lot of humility, but I, 
along with everyone in this Senate, support our troops. Every one of us 
is honored by their sacrifice and grateful beyond expression for their 
outstanding work.
  When it comes to judging the Iraq war, only one question matters: Are 
we safer? The answer is undeniably no, and no amount of spin from the 
White House can change that.
  Because of Iraq, our military is stretched thin and its ability to 
address new threats is compromised. Many of our troops are now on their 
third, fourth, and some are on their fifth tours of duty in Iraq.
  Are we safer with bin Laden free and al-Qaida strengthening? Of 
course not.
  Because of Iraq, our National Guard--the brave men and women charged 
with protecting us from disastrous threats here at home--don't have the 
manpower or the equipment to do their job effectively at home. Are we 
safer with a weakened National Guard to protect us at home? Of course 
not.
  Because of Iraq and the Bush administration's shoot first, talk later 
style of cowboy diplomacy, our moral authority in the world is 
shattered, and to talk about this being cowboy diplomacy is an insult 
to cowboys. Our former allies are unwilling to stand by our side. Our 
ability to solve conflicts through diplomacy are diminished.
  Are we safer as a weakened moral force in the world? Of course not. 
The American people know this by overwhelming numbers. They continue to 
oppose this war, and with good reason: We are objectively less safe 
because of Iraq.
  The cost of the war to our country has been enormous, not only in the 
loss of lives--now more than 4,000--but also tens of thousands wounded, 
a third of them gravely. We are now spending $5,000 every second in 
Iraq--every second--$12 billion a month. No weekends off. No holidays 
off. We are spending $5,000 a second of borrowed taxpayers' money. The 
President told us the war would cost no more than $60 billion. Nobel 
Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said it is going to cost us $3 
trillion.
  In Iraq, we--the American taxpayers--are building hospitals, roads, 
bridges, dams, water systems, sewer systems, barracks for the Iraqis, 
when we should be helping millions of Americans avoid losing their 
homes to foreclosure. We are policing the streets in Baghdad when we 
should be investing in health care and a better education system. We 
are protecting oilfields in Basra when we should be funding renewable 
energy production to help stem the tide of global warming.
  When all is finally said and done, experts say the war is going to 
cost as much as $3 trillion or more, as I have said. Where does this 
come from? It is all borrowed for future generations to pay back. The 
legacy of our generation could be to leave our children and 
grandchildren with a safer, cleaner, and more prosperous country. 
Instead, the war in Iraq will ensure that we leave future generations 
with trillions of dollars in debt.
  Instead of making our country safer, we are greasing the pocketbooks 
of corrupt Iraqi politicians and buying their temporary cooperation. 
Let's not forget this: Iraq is a rich country. It is not a poor 
country--far from it. Its oil resources make it one of the world's 
wealthiest countries. With the price of oil skyrocketing as it has, 
think of the money that is going into their coffers. Record-high oil 
prices have supplied Iraq with literally more money than they know what 
to do with, but we keep spending $5,000 a second in Iraq. As we borrow 
and spend billions of dollars to provide the security that the Iraqi 
Government has failed to create for themselves, Iraq is bringing in 
billions of oil money faster than they can open bank accounts to store 
it all.
  If a parent gives a teenager the choice of either getting a job or 
receiving an allowance for doing nothing, the teenager will often 
choose to do nothing. As long as we guarantee to the Iraqi Government 
that our troops and our money will support them, they will never have 
an incentive to do the job themselves. The security welfare state we 
have created will go on and on forever.
  I yield the floor.

                          ____________________