[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 13274-13275]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              OBSESSION WITH IRAQ HURTS AMERICAN SECURITY

  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, for over 5 years, the administration has 
had a single-minded obsession with the occupation of Iraq. It has 
poured our troops and our treasure into a misguided foreign adventure, 
while ignoring our Nation's real security needs, both at home and 
abroad.
  I want to mention just a few of the ways that Iraq tunnel vision has 
blinded us to what we really need to be focusing on. First, the 
occupation of Iraq has weakened our efforts in Afghanistan. Secretary 
of Defense Gates has acknowledged that many Europeans do not support 
the NATO mission in Afghanistan because they oppose the American 
occupation of Iraq.
  He has said, and I quote ``Many (Europeans) have a problem with our 
involvement in Iraq and project that to Afghanistan.''
  Second, the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves have said 
that the use of the Guard and Reserves in Iraq has seriously weakened 
their ability to protect us from threats to the homeland. These threats 
could include terrorist attacks using chemicals, biological and nuclear 
weapons.
  Third, just as our Guard and Reserves have been stretched too thin, 
our entire military has been stretched to the breaking point. Many of 
our most senior military leaders have been warning us for quite some 
time now that the occupation of Iraq has compromised our ability to 
respond to genuine threats elsewhere in the world.
  Fourth, our occupation of Iraq has strengthened the hand of the pro-
nuclear regime in Iran. The occupation has destabilized the region, 
giving Iran the chance to gain influence among its neighbors.
  We must stand with our international partners, and we must work with 
international organizations to put strong diplomatic pressures on Iran 
to behave responsibly. We must begin direct negotiations with Iran. We 
cannot allow the occupation of Iraq to spread to a war with Iran. That 
would be another catastrophic mistake.
  Iran would retaliate against our troops in Iraq and against our 
allies and interests throughout the region. Oil would spike, further 
threatening our economy right here at home.
  Fifth, the occupation of Iraq has seriously undermined America's 
standing

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in the world. My colleague on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Chairman 
Delahunt of the Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human 
Rights and Oversight, issued a report on this subject just last week, a 
report that I hope every Member of the House will read.
  The report describes the alarming decline in how the people of the 
world view the United States. There has been a 45-percent drop in 
America's favorability rating in Indonesia, a 41 percent drop in 
Morocco and a 40 percent drop in Turkey.
  The United States is now viewed unfavorably by 82 percent of the 
people in Arab countries, and there has been a 26-point increase in 
Europe for the view that U.S. leadership in world affairs is 
undesirable. The report finds that two of major causes for this 
unprecedented and widespread decline are the occupation of Iraq and the 
torture and abuse of prisoners.
  In addition, the people of the world believe that America's decisions 
are made unilaterally without regard to international law or standards, 
making our rhetoric about democracy quite hypocritical.
  The administration has told us that the occupation of Iraq is all 
about spreading democracy in the Middle East. Yet, here we have clear 
evidence that their policy is failing, because you cannot bomb and 
blast your way to democracy.
  There can be no doubt that the occupation of Iraq has weakened 
America's defenses in many, many ways. The only solution is to 
responsibly redeploy our troops and military contractors out of Iraq. 
That way we can get back to the business of conducting an effective 
foreign policy, safeguarding our Nation's security, and working with 
the international community to bring peace to the world.

                          ____________________