The Iraq War

Floor Speech

THE IRAQ WAR -- (House of Representatives - September 10, 2007)

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Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, the troop surge in Iraq has clearly failed. It has failed to achieve its purpose. The troop surge has failed not because of our troops, but because of the failures of politicians here in Washington and in Iraq. This President's surge has been as successful as the President's boast to catch Osama bin Laden ``dead or alive.''

We now have three reports from entities at least somewhat independent from the Bush propaganda machine that confirm the obvious. The National Intelligence Estimate providing the thinking of the intelligence community that, instead of getting better, the situation in Iraq will get worse: ``The Iraqi government will become more precarious over the next 6 to 12 months.'' The Independent Commission on Security Forces concluded that the Iraqi Interior Ministry is ``dysfunctional.'' It is so bad that it cannot be fixed; they recommend that it be disbanded. The Government Accountability Office evaluated the surge, and it judged President Bush's policy using his own criteria with a clear ``F,'' a clear failure, a fiasco, a fatal flop, with only 3 of 18 benchmarks having been met.

Today, General Petraeus can cite whatever selective statistics that his political bosses may permit him to disclose, but the facts are that each and every month this year has involved more deaths of American troops than each month, including August last year. And despite the ethnic cleansing that has already displaced 3.5 million Iraqis, the increasing violence continues to inflict an increasingly deadly toll on Iraqi families.

What is life like for those Iraqis who survive? Almost half earn less than $1 a day; 70 percent lack access to adequate water; and 1/3 remain in dire need of emergency food aid.

When the surge was announced, the White House said ``wait until the summer.'' And as summer approached, the White House said ``wait until September.'' Well, now that this much overrated September is here, they cry ``wait until next year.''

The only real mystery about President Bush's September decision has been what new excuse he would offer to justify staying the same old deadly course. And as the American people have seen through the duplicity of each and every other excuse, the President has returned to his original ploy: 9/11, coincidentally, just as we receive this report on the anniversary of 9/11. He claims that ``the same folks that are bombing ..... in Iraq are the ones who attacked us in America on September 11.'' That is false and he knows it is false. But fear with deception is all he has left to rationalize the pain of the many, the sacrifice of the brave, and the loss of $3 billion every single week.

As usual, this President is dead certain and dead wrong. What he seeks is war without limits, war without end. Under his direction, General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker propose a war that continues for probably another decade, the ``George Bush Trillion dollar, 15-Year War.''

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Now Congress must respond to the President's propaganda surge with a truth surge, with a memory surge, reminding America of the repeated false cries of ``progress'' and phony excuses that have only brought our families more insecurity. Congress must learn from the courage continually displayed by our troops. Appeasement will not stop these wrong-headed Administration policies. More blank checks will only drain our national treasury while fueling more death and destruction that only endangers American families.

And so today we note the surge has failed, but we respectfully and sincerely thank General Petraeus and all of our troops who serve America and are doing their jobs. But we know we must do our job. It is long past time for Congress to act. Our best hope remains a safe and orderly, fully-funded, phased redeployment that begins immediately.

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