Iraq

IRAQ -- (Senate - January 18, 2007)

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Mr. CORNYN. I agree with the argument the Senator from New Hampshire has made about the importance of our prosecuting the war against terror and particularly what has been called by the terrorists themselves ``the central front in the war on terror' in Iraq.

Some of our colleagues have introduced a resolution, which the Senator has spoken to, which is a nonbinding sense-of-the-Senate resolution. I heard others this morning talk about imposing caps on the number of troops we might deploy there.

I ask the distinguished Senator from New Hampshire, if it is so important that we not fail in Iraq and that the region not descend into either a failed state or a launching pad for future terrorist attacks or a regional conflict ensue, does he not believe it would be important for those who criticize the President's announced plan to offer a constructive alternative of their own, if they believe that the President's chosen plan is not the best course of action?

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Mr. CORNYN. Notwithstanding the fact that we have a number of our colleagues running for President of the United States in 2008, and notwithstanding the fact that obviously we have Senators of different party affiliation, Republican and Democrat, isn't a matter of national security exactly the kind of issue that should rise above partisan divisions and upon which we should work to find common ground so we can protect the national security of the United States? I ask the Senator whether he believes that perhaps we have let our guard down and let this discourse become too political in nature rather than solution oriented?

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