Date: 2006-06-15
Speaker: GENE GREEN (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker and Members. our job is to protect our Nation. We have thousands of young men and women who are doing it today. I believed in early 2003 we should do more to capture or eliminate the people who caused the 9/11 attacks. They were predominantly in Afghanistan. not in Iraq. Today it seems we have a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and increasing attacks in Iraq on our troops and Iraqi citizens. We have seen success in capturing Saddam and eliminating al Zarqawi. I have never doubted the ability of our young men and women in our Armed Forces. We saw what they were capable of doing in the first days of the war when they stormed Iraq and Baghdad within days. overwhelming the Iraqi forces. The accomplishments we have seen in Iraq can be attributed directly to these troops discipline and persistence in fighting the insurgency. Mistakes have been made. and the most experienced . members of our Armed Forces have pointed that out. One of the individuals who spoke out was retired Marine General. Former Chief of U.S. Central Command Anthony Zinni. who said. "We grow up in a culture where accountability. learning to accept responsibility. admitting mistakes and learning from them was critical to us. When we.dont see that happening. it worries us. Poor military judgments has been used throughout this mission." As this war has gone on. the lack of planning and poor judgment by this administration has become more apparent. I have here the May 1. 2003 press release from the White House in which President Bush. on board the U.S. Abraham Lincoln. declared all major combat operations have ended. We now know that this was one miscalculation among many. Since that time. seven young men from our 29th Congressional district in Texas have lost their lives in Iraq. Across this Nation. 2.300 service personnel. men and women have lost their lives since the President made these remarks. Reading over these remarks. it is clear that the administration had no clear plan for securing Iraq after the invasion and no clue about what was to follow the next 3 years. Given the size and the strength and the effectiveness of the insurgency. the administrations intelligence should have given some indication that there would be problems down the road and done a better job of preparing both our public and. more importantly. our troops on what was to come the following month and the following years. It is clear that we did not have enough troops on the ground immediately after the invasion. and that shortage continues. Congress doesnt direct troops on the ground. We are not the Commander in Chief. But we are charged with sending our sons and daughters into battle. and therefore we need an honest and open debate about what is occurring in Iraq. I strongly disagree with the way the administration planned and carried out this war. I will continue. though. to vote for the defense appropriations and the supplemental dollars because we have to give our troops protections that they need. and we learn every day that they need even more. Many brave men and women have given their lives in Baghdad and all across Iraq. We honor those families for their sacrifice. their ultimate sacrifice. Mr. Speaker. this war is not the one we anticipated fighting or the war we were led to believe we were getting into. but I believe we must leave a secure Iraq that can defend itself and be a symbol for democracy to prosper.