Posted on 03/14/2007 1:33:03 PM PDT by mdittmar
“Setting a date certain for withdrawal will send a chill up the spine of every Iraqi who has dared to stand with America.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor Wednesday regarding S. J. Res. 9, the latest Democrat proposal to set a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq. The following are his remarks from the floor.
“Today, Senate Republicans will agree to move to a debate on an important question, and that question is this: Should a majority of Senators direct the activity of the War in Iraq?
“Republicans are eager to engage in this debate on the Reid Resolution because it’s different in kind from any previous Democratic proposal.
“It is unprecedented in the powers it would arrogate to the Congress in a time of war; it is a clear statement of retreat from the support that the Senate only recently gave to General David Petraeus; and its passage would be absolutely fatal to our mission in Iraq. “Previous resolutions proposed by the Democrats were a mere statement of opinion, or sentiment. This one has a binding quality. It would interfere with the President and General Petraeus’ operational authority to conduct the war in Iraq as he and his commanders see fit. It would substitute for their judgment the judgment of 535 members of Congress.
“And the judgment they’ve made is this: That Iraq is a distraction in the Global War on terror, and that U.S. troops should begin to withdraw in four months, with all combat forces leaving within a year. That’s the judgment that the Reid proposal makes.
“This is the memo our enemies have been waiting for.
“Osama Bin Laden and his followers have repeatedly said that the U.S. does not have the stomach for a long fight with the terrorists. Passage of the Reid Joint Resolution will be the first concrete sign since Sept. 11, 2001, that he was right on target.
“Timetables are bad. But don’t just take my word for it.
“Speaking at the National Press Club in 2005, my good friend the Majority Leader himself said this: ‘As for setting a timeline, as we learned in the Balkans, that’s not a wise decision, because it only empowers those who don’t want us there, and it doesn’t work well to do that.’
“Six months after that, the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden, said this: ‘A deadline for pulling out … will only encourage our enemies to wait us out’ … it would be ‘a Lebanon in 1985. And God knows where it goes from there.’ That was our friend, Joe Biden, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“And three months later, Senator Clinton made the same point when she said, ‘I don’t believe it’s smart to set a date for withdrawal,’ said Senator Clinton. ‘I don’t think you should ever telegraph your intentions to the enemy so they can await you.’ “That’s the Majority Leader, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and a prominent Democrat presidential candidate.
“Surely Senators Reid, Biden, and Clinton have not changed their minds about who would benefit the most if we set a date certain for withdrawal. They know just as well as I do that this is what the terrorists have been waiting for — and just what our allies in Iraq, and the entire region of the world have feared.
“Setting a date certain for withdrawal will send a chill up the spine of every Iraqi who has dared to stand with America. Millions of good men and women have helped us in this fight. Since we arrived in Iraq, nearly 120,000 Iraqis have volunteered to serve in their army. More than 8,000 Iraqis have died in uniform to defend the fledgling Democracy over there. And recently, in Anbar province, we’re told that roughly 1,000 Sunnis volunteered for the police force over a period of a couple weeks.
“These brave men and women, Mr. President, are watching what we do here: They know, as we do, that chaos will engulf Iraq and the rest of the region on that day. They know they and their families will likely face a firing squad soon after we leave. And the message we send them with this resolution is this: good luck.
“General Petraeus understands the importance of the mission in Iraq, and his new Mission to Secure Baghdad. In a recent letter to the soldiers under his command, he wrote:
The enemies of Iraq will shrink at no act, however barbaric. They will do all they can to shake the confidence of the people and to convince the world that this effort is doomed. We must not underestimate them. Together with our Iraqi partners, we must defeat those who oppose the new Iraq. We cannot allow mass murders to hold the initiative. We must strike them relentlessly. We and our Iraqi partners must set the terms of the struggle, not our enemies. And together, we must prevail.
“These are the words of the man this body recently sent to Iraq. They are the words of a military commander: confident yet realistic, and committed above all to victory. This is the voice of courage and resolve in the face of danger. We do best to listen to voices like this, which speak of victory rather than defeat and withdrawal. We owe it to him, his soldiers, our allies, and the world.
“Republicans are ready for this debate.”
“Setting a date certain for withdrawal will send a chill up the spine of every Iraqi who has dared to stand with America.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
&&
Some great stuff in his comments.
YAWN!
I like Mitch....
Ping
Some great stuff in his comments.
Maybe we would still have the House and Senate if Mitch had been Speaker, instead of that dweeb, Hastert.
sigh
First they get criticized for not engaging the Democrats and standing up to them. Then when they do, all the support they get is a YAWN???
Bump For Later
Mitch lays it out well....
A Senator isn't allowed to be the Speaker of the House.
It's just as good in written form. :)
Elections have consequences.
Democrats dont have a choice in this. They have to force withdrawal while they can still blame it on Bush.
They know their constituents are stupid, that if Democrats force us to withdraw they can say it was Georges Bush's fault.
If we win this war they lose in 2008. If we are still there they will be forced to withdraw by their constituents and they will have to take the rap for what goes down.
Suprised you could spare the effort to yawn. Either support America in the fight for freedom, or stuff your head back under your wing, go to sleep and stay out of the way..
That is a change from the fifties when Senator McCarthy was responsible for the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
He single handedly blacklisted all the Hollywood actors who are still complaining about it.
Thanks for the ping....but, as I just noticed...it seems that even some freepers are annoyed at the war and bored with it.
I just hope they don't wonder WTH happened the next time we are attacked because the war just became too "tiresome, tedious, long, SO last year, boring, scary,"...all of the adjectives that would describe why Americans don't want to finish the mission.
Well said by Senator McConnell.
Again, I am forced to ask...
Is there NO ONE who will dare call this TREASON?
This statement,given on the Senate floor,bringing up reid,biden,and clinton's previous remarks,is refreshing.
Maybe them calls and faxes do make a difference.
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