House Petraeus Hearing Opening Statements

TownHall.com ^ | 09/10/2007

[LM_Guy]

Transcript of Tom Lantos, Duncan Hunter, and Ileana Ross-Lehtenin:

LANTOS: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. And, on behalf of all of the members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I want to extend the most cordial welcome to our two distinguished witnesses. Two of our nation's most capable public servants have come before us today to assess the situation in Iraq.

General Petraeus, Ambassador Crocker, every single one of us wants you to succeed in your efforts to the maximum possible extent.

We admire the heroism and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform and the dedication of our diplomatic corps in Iraq. And we fully understand the terrible burden on their families.

Our witnesses have been sent here this morning to restore credibility to a discredited policy. We and the American people already know that the situation in Iraq is grim and the growing majority of this Congress and of the American people want our troops out.

In October of 2003, I flew in a helicopter with you, General Petraeus, over northern Iraq around Mosul. As we passed over the countryside, you pointed out to me several ammunition dumps that had once belonged to the army of Saddam Hussain.

I don't have enough troops to guard these places, you said. Someday, this might come back to haunt us.

Well, General Petraeus, you saw it coming. Those unguarded ammo dumps became the arsenals of insurgency. Those weapons have been turned against us. How very typical of this war. The administration's myopic policies in Iraq have created a fiasco. Is it any wonder that, on the subject of Iraq, more and more Americans have little confidence in this administration?

We cannot take any of this administration's assertions on Iraq at face value anymore. And no amount of charts.......

[LM_Guy]

Duncan Hunter shoots down Lantos with -

Lantos - "In his recent visit to Anbar province the president made much of our cooperation in the fight against Al Qaida with Sunni tribal militias. This alliance may, in the short run, be a positive development, but it also raises some serious and profound questions.
Anbar, of course, includes just 5 percent of the population of Iraq -- an important 5 percent, but still only 5. What's more, by arming, training and funding the Sunni militias in that province, we are working against our own strategy of building national Iraqi institutions. "

Hunter - "Now, my friend, Mr. Lantos, has pointed out that Anbar is about 5 percent of the population. Say to my friend -- that's true. But at times in this war, it has been 50 percent of the American casualties."

[GOP_Party_Animal]

Title confusing is very.

[ClaireSolt]

After all that yada yada about chickenhawks, the first two R’s both have kids in the fight.