[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13560]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR AND U.S. INVOLVEMENT

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the United States is considering 
sending missiles into Syria. Also, CIA-funded weapons have begun 
flowing to Syrian rebels.
  The rebels are made up of the Free Syrian Army, al Qaeda, and others. 
It seems the Free Syrian Army is liberating areas, and al Qaeda comes 
in behind and imposes strict Islamic shari'a law in those territories. 
Al Qaeda is a terrorist group that is at war with the United States.
  Richard Engel, with NBC, interviewed Abu Abdul Rahman, one of the 
thousands of al Qaeda fighters in Syria. In the interview, Engel asked 
Rahman this question:

       The United States is considering launching military strikes 
     against Syria. Would that help you?

  Rahman replied:

       We have a prayer: ``Allah, please annihilate our enemies by 
     other enemies.'' Assad is an enemy and America is an enemy. 
     Let them fight.

  Madam Speaker, in this civil war, why would we ever consider getting 
involved by launching missiles into Syria or arming the rebels, which 
include our enemy, al Qaeda?
  And that's just the way it is.

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