IV 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 208 
Chronicling the efforts of United States and Coalition forces to bring freedom, 
safety, and security to Iraq and recognizing the importance of the ‘‘surge 
strategy’’ in completing that mission. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 4, 2009 
Mr. KING of Iowa (for himself, Mr. MCHUGH, Mr. PENCE, Mr. MCCOTTER, 
Mr. CARTER, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Mr. FRANKS of Arizona, 
Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KLINE of Minnesota, Mr. AKIN, Mr. 
MILLER of Florida, Mr. ROGERS of Alabama, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. 
WITTMAN, Ms. FALLIN, Mr. HUNTER, Mr. HENSARLING, Mr. BURGESS, 
Mr. COLE, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. SHADEGG, Mr. PITTS, Mrs. SCHMIDT, Mr. 
GINGREY of Georgia, Mr. BRADY of Texas, Mr. WESTMORELAND, Mrs. 
BACHMANN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. RADANOVICH, Mr. LUCAS, Mr. 
LINDER, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. FOXX, Mr. LATTA, Mr. BROUN of Georgia, 
and Mrs. LUMMIS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee 
on Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Chronicling the efforts of United States and Coalition forces 
to bring freedom, safety, and security to Iraq and recog-
nizing the importance of the ‘‘surge strategy’’ in com-
pleting that mission. 
Whereas, on October 11, 2002, the House of Representatives 
passed H.J. Res. 114, Authorization for Use of Military 
Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002, authorizing the 
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•HRES 208 IH 
President to use military force to ‘‘defend the national 
security of the United States against the continuing 
threat posed by Iraq’’ and ‘‘to enforce all relevant United 
Nations Security Council resolutions against Iraq’’; 
Whereas, on March 17, 2003, President George W. Bush 
gave Saddam Hussein and his sons, Uday and Qusay, an 
ultimatum to leave Iraq within 48 hours to avoid war; 
Whereas in providing the rationale for this ultimatum, Presi-
dent Bush pointed to the universal consensus of intel-
ligence gathered by the United States and other govern-
ments which concluded Iraq continued to develop, pos-
sess, and conceal weapons of mass destruction and the 
means to deliver them; the threat posed to the United 
States and other countries by the growing threat of 
chemical, biological or nuclear terrorist attacks launched 
by or in collusion with the Hussein regime; the failure of 
peaceful efforts to disarm the Iraqi regime; the unani-
mously approved United Nations Security Council Reso-
lution 1441, which found that Iraq ‘‘has been and re-
mains in material breach of its obligations under relevant 
resolutions, including resolution 687, in particular 
through Iraq’s failure to cooperate with United Nations 
inspectors and the IAEA, and to complete the [disar-
mament] actions required under paragraphs 8 to 13 of 
resolution 687’’; the Hussein regime’s use of weapons of 
mass destruction against Iraq’s neighbors and against 
Iraq’s people; the regime’s history of reckless aggression 
in the Middle East; the aid, training, and harbor the re-
gime had given to terrorists, including operatives of Al 
Qaeda; the United States Congress’ overwhelming vote on 
October 11, 2002, to support the use of force in Iraq; the 
need to disarm Saddam Hussein in order to diminish the 
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•HRES 208 IH 
terrorist and security threat to America and the world; 
and the United States of America’s sovereign authority 
to use force in assuring its own national security; 
Whereas, on March 19, 2003, after Saddam Hussein and his 
sons refused to leave Iraq, the United States led an inter-
national coalition military force in launching Operation 
Iraqi Freedom to disarm and topple the Hussein regime, 
bring freedom to the people of Iraq, and establish a 
democratic government in Iraq capable of defending and 
sustaining itself and acting as an ally in the War on Ter-
ror; 
Whereas the Hussein regime was toppled on or about April 
9, 2003; 
Whereas a Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) was subse-
quently established in Iraq to provide governance and to 
facilitate the transition of Iraq into a democracy capable 
of providing its own internal security, sustaining itself, 
and acting as an ally in the War on Terror; 
Whereas from March 19, 2003 to the present time, the 
United States and Coalition Forces from 39 countries 
have engaged many enemies on the battlefields of Iraq, 
including the ‘‘Fedayeen Saddam’’ and other militias 
loyal to Saddam and the Baathist resistance; various lo-
calized Sunni militias providing protection to certain 
Sunni neighborhoods and population groups; terrorist or-
ganizations, including Al Qaeda in Iraq; Shiite militias, 
including Moqtada Al Sadr’s Mahdi Army; Shiite vigi-
lante groups acting much like their Sunni counterparts; 
Iranian supported Shiite groups, including the Supreme 
Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq’s Badr Corps; and 
members of, as well as forces trained and supplied by, 
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the Qods Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and other 
Iranian agents; 
Whereas, on December 28, 2004, Al Qaeda released an audio 
message from Osama Bin Laden in which he stated, 
‘‘The most important and serious issue today for the 
world is this Third World War . . . . It is raging in the 
land of the two rivers [Iraq]. The world’s millstone and 
pillar is in Baghdad, the capital of the caliphate.’’ He 
said ‘‘the whole world is watching this war,’’ and it will 
end in ‘‘victory and glory or misery and humiliation.’’; 
Whereas by December 2006, the security situation in Iraq 
had severely deteriorated largely as the result of in-
creased Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence sparked by the 
February 22, 2006, bombing by Al Qaeda in Iraq of the 
Askariya Shitte mosque in Samarra and fueled by the 
many violent acts that followed which were perpetrated 
by Al Qaeda in Iraq and the various other sectarian and 
political enemy groups competing for power and attempt-
ing to defeat United States and coalition forces in Iraq; 
Whereas in their report, The Way Forward—A New Ap-
proach, the members of the Iraq Study Group stated they 
could ‘‘support a short-term redeployment or surge of 
American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed 
up the training and equipping mission, if the United 
States commander in Iraq determines that such steps 
would be effective’’; 
Whereas as a result of the deteriorating security situation in 
Iraq, President Bush announced ‘‘A New Way Forward’’, 
on January 10, 2007, which called for a surge of 28,500 
American troops into Iraq to execute new counter insur-
gency strategies, as outlined in FM 3–24 Counterinsur-
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gency, under the command of that document’s principal 
author, General David Petraeus; 
Whereas President Bush showed great leadership, judgment, 
and fortitude as commander in chief in ordering the 
adoption of the ‘‘surge strategy’’, despite being counseled 
by some of his top military advisors not to pursue the 
troop build up; 
Whereas the goal of the ‘‘surge strategy’’ was to increase the 
size of the American military force on the ground in Iraq 
to secure the Iraqi population by killing or capturing the 
terrorists and militia who had unleashed the destructive 
wave of violence in Iraq since 2006, and to move Amer-
ican forces into Iraqi neighborhoods to partner with Iraqi 
civilians and security forces in clearing those neighbor-
hoods of enemy forces and maintaining security control 
to hold those areas once cleared; 
Whereas President Bush and General Petraeus, among oth-
ers, believed that by increasing the size of the American 
force in Iraq and following the counter-insurgency tactics 
developed in FM 3–24 Counterinsurgency, United States 
and Coalition forces, working with Iraqi Security Forces, 
could bring safety and security to the Iraqi people; pro-
vide the time necessary to train and equip Iraqi Security 
Forces, of which there are now more than 613,000; and 
provide the Iraqi Government with the stable security en-
vironment needed to bring about the reconciliation nec-
essary to establish that government’s relevance and au-
thority throughout the country; 
Whereas one of the first signs of the success of the ‘‘surge 
strategy’’ was the development of the Sunni ‘‘Awak-
ening,’’ in which Sunni tribal leaders in Anbar Province 
responded to, and allied themselves with, United States 
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military and Coalition forces in turning against Al Qaeda 
in Iraq; 
Whereas some of the most dangerous streets in the world 
have become peaceful centers of commerce; 
Whereas Anbar Province, where Marines have been stationed 
throughout much of the war and which was once one of 
the most dangerous parts of Iraq, has been pacified to 
the point at which on January 23, 2009, General James 
Conway, the Commandant of the United States Marine 
Corps, explained that the combat portion of the Iraq war 
is effectively over, stating ‘‘The time is right for Marines 
in general terms to leave Iraq.’’; 
Whereas the mayor of Fallujah has declared the city to be 
a ‘‘city of peace’’; 
Whereas since implementing the President’s ‘‘surge strategy’’ 
in Iraq, civilian deaths have dropped by more than 90 
percent since December 2006, to levels not seen since 
2004; 
Whereas President Bush’s adoption of the ‘‘surge strategy’’ 
has made Iraq a safer place for American troops; 
Whereas since July 1, 2008, more American troops in Iraq 
have been killed in accidents than by the enemy; 
Whereas the surge strategy has delivered a significant defeat 
to the terrorist and militia organizations that once con-
trolled vast areas of Iraq and were responsible for the 
formerly high levels of violence in Iraq; 
Whereas, on May 25, 2008, Ryan Crocker, the United States 
Ambassador to Iraq, stated that Al Qaeda in Iraq ‘‘has 
never been closer to defeat’’ and on July 25, 2008, said 
that the Sunni insurgency, writ large, is ‘‘not much of a 
challenge any more’’ to Iraq’s future; 
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Whereas ethno-sectarian violence has diminished significantly, 
falling 98 percent from its highest monthly death toll of 
2,086, recorded for December of 2006; 
Whereas the security of the International Zone in Baghdad 
(the Green Zone) was transferred to the Iraqi Security 
Forces on January 1, 2009; 
Whereas 13 of Iraq’s 18 provinces are now entirely the re-
sponsibility and under the control of Iraqi Security 
Forces; 
Whereas the self-evident fact that al Qaeda in Iraq has been 
defeated as a military force, a fact that has become clear 
over the past year, beginning with statements made by 
Abu-Tariq, a local Al Qaeda leader near Balad, in a let-
ter captured by American forces in early 2008. In the let-
ter, Abu-Tariq states that as a result of the Sunni Awak-
ening that followed the implementation of the ‘‘surge 
strategy’’, ‘‘The Americans and the apostates launched 
their campaigns against us and we found ourselves in a 
circle not being able to move, organize or conduct our 
operations . . . . This created weakness and psychological 
defeat. This also created panic, fear and the unwilling-
ness to fight. The morale of the fighters went down . . . . 
There was a total collapse in the security structure of the 
organization.’’; 
Whereas 17 of the 18 benchmarks, established by Congress 
and signed into law on May 25, 2007, by President Bush 
as part of H.R. 2206, the United States Troop Readi-
ness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Ac-
countability Appropriations Act, 2007, to provide for an 
objective analysis of progress toward reconciliation and 
self-governance by the Iraqi Government have been sub-
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stantially or completely met since the ‘‘surge strategy’’ 
was adopted; 
Whereas one of the most important benchmarks was recently 
met when new provincial elections were held successfully 
in Iraq on January 31, 2009; 
Whereas the final unmet benchmark, increasing Iraqi Secu-
rity Force units’ capability of operating independently, 
requires a continued United States presence to ensure 
full attainment in the future; 
Whereas, on February 4, 2009, Ambassador Ryan Crocker 
stressed the importance of a continued United States 
presence in Iraq when he said ‘‘Iraq’s development will 
be a long-term project, requiring the long-term strategic 
commitment of the United States’’; 
Whereas there have been two legitimate, nationwide elections 
in Iraq on January 30, 2005, and on December 15, 
2005; 
Whereas the Iraqis, on October 15, 2005, by popular vote, 
ratified their constitution, which establishes the Rule of 
Law in Iraq; and 
Whereas the ‘‘surge strategy’’ has ushered in a level of safety 
and security in Iraq such that the United States and the 
Government of Iraq were able to sign a Status of Forces 
Agreement on November 17, 2008, and which took effect 
on January 1, 2009, that continues the transfer of secu-
rity responsibilities within Iraq to Iraqi forces and pro-
vides for the withdrawal of United States forces from 
Iraq in 36 months by the end of 2011: Now, therefore, 
be it 
Resolved, That— 
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(1) it is the sense of the House of Representa-
tives that the surge strategy articulated by President 
Bush as part of A New Way Forward has succeeded 
in providing security and stability to the Iraqi peo-
ple, addressing the threat posed to the Government 
of Iraq and the continued existence of a unified and 
independent country of Iraq by terrorist organiza-
tions and sectarian militias, and facilitating the op-
portunity for the Government of Iraq to make the 
decisions necessary for national reconciliation and 
governance to occur; and 
(2) the House of Representatives— 
(A) recognizes the enormous sacrifices 
made by the men and women of the United 
States and Coalition forces from 39 countries to 
secure the successes gained in Iraq and thanks 
these heroes for their courage, nobility, and sac-
rifice to defend freedom and defeat our en-
emies; 
(B) extends its gratitude to all those with-
in the military and civilian departments and 
agencies of the United States Government re-
sponsible for directing the implementation of 
the ‘‘surge strategy,’’ including General David 
Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker; 
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(C) recognizes the importance and signifi-
cance of victory in the Iraqi theater of the larg-
er, global struggle against radical, Islamic 
Jihadist terrorists; and 
(D) commits itself to working with Presi-
dent Obama and his administration to continue 
the progress that has been made on the ground 
in Iraq since the ‘‘surge strategy’’ was imple-
mented, recognizing that a definable victory has 
been achieved in Iraq and that history will 
judge President Bush’s successor by his ability 
to maintain his predecessor’s victory. 
Æ 
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