Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank the distinguished chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, two separate headlines on the front page of today's Washington Post tell the sad story of two of the Bush Administration's biggest national security failures. First, its disastrous Iraq policy, and second, its failure to complete the mission against al Qaeda and the Taliban along the Afghan/Pakistan border.

One headline reads, "CIA Said Instability Appeared Irreversible.'' The article describes how, on the same day last November, the Baker-Hamilton commission received two starkly different portrayals of what was happening in Iraq. One came from President Bush, who portrayed a rosy picture, and the other came from the man who President Bush put in charge of the CIA, General Hayden, who was responsible for providing a clear-eyed analysis based on cold facts. And what he reportedly told the commission was, and I quote, "Instability of the Iraqi Government was irreversible.'' Irreversible, he said.

These starkly different portrayals of the situation go to the core of our problems in Iraq because the President has been in a state of denial. Happy talk is no substitute for a reality-based policy. And indeed, the President's decisions based on wishful thinking have led to decisions that have weakened our national security.

Yesterday, the U.S. intelligence experts confirmed the gloomy assessment that General Hayden made last November, and today's report to Congress confirms that the Iraqi Government has failed to make sufficient progress in key areas of national reconciliation.

The other headline on the front page of the paper today on Washington Post reads, "U.S. warns of stronger al Qaeda and describes al Qaeda's growing presence and strength along the Afghan/Pakistan border and reveals the consequences of our failure to complete the job against al Qaeda in that area.''

Mr. Speaker, we must insist that the Iraqis assume greater responsibility for their own future, and we redouble our efforts against those who did attack us on September 11, 2001. That's what this bill is about.

It's time to change direction. I urge my colleagues to adopt this bill.

Source