The following remarks were delivered on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) on Thursday, Sept. 6.
Mr. Speaker: When the President arrived in Australia the other day, he told the deputy prime minister, quote, "We're kicking ass" in Iraq. It is a clear sign that he intends to keep a massive U.S. military force in Iraq as long as he remains in office.
And he will make it official administration policy next week. We're kicking ass in Iraq might be the headline of the report the White House is writing for General Patraeus to deliver to Congress next week.
It is supposed to be an objective military assessment, but the President has declared it will be a White House spin document.
Here's what the President's kick-ass assessment translates to on the ground in Iraq:
• Ten U.S. soldiers killed so far this week.
• 793 U.S. soldiers killed so far this year.
• 3,752 U.S. soldiers killed since the beginning of the war.
• 27,186 U.S. soldiers wounded since the beginning of the war.
• Over 71,000 documented Iraqi civilian deaths since the beginning of the war, but the actual number is much higher.
As the Times of India newspaper said today, Iraq is getting worse day after day after day. We don't even know how bad things really are.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit the other day demanding the U.S. military release military documents concerning the number of innocent civilians killed by U.S. forces. They fear the government is hiding the human cost of the war. We don't know, but reliable information exists.
There is plenty of factual information for this president to rely on, but he won't. An independent commission of retired U.S. generals released a report today that concludes the Iraqi national police force is so corrupt that the force should be disbanded.
These U.S. military experts concluded that Iraq's army over the next 18 months, "cannot yet meaningfully contribute to denying terrorists safe haven."
The GAO released its own independent study showing the Iraqi government has reached only three of 18 benchmarks established as part of the U.S. continuing to fund the war.
In case anyone thinks that achieving 3 of 18 benchmarks isn't so bad, let me tell you what they are.
One benchmark was passing a law that legally protects the rights of minority parties in Iraq. Except the minority Sunni population remains largely on the outside looking in on a Shia-dominated government.
The other two benchmarks the Iraqi government achieved were setting up security and public relations offices to support the military escalation.
But the White House will use the military to paint a much rosier picture next week in the report to Congress.
Besides the kick-ass assessment by the president, there have been recent reports trying to bolster the Administration's position.
I ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a story appearing in today's Washington Post. It's on page A-16, but it should have been on the front page. The headline is: "Experts Doubt Drop in Violence in Iraq. Military Statistics Called Into Question." I urge everyone to read this important news story.
The only conclusion one can reach is here they go again.
"We're kicking ass" is the kind of assessment you'd hear at a football game, and the game is clearly on by this president and his minions.
They'll claim progress next week, and tease the American people with talk of token U.S. troops reductions.
But because it is coming from this White House, the only thing certain about what next week brings is their latest intention to try and mislead us into believing there are enough bullets and bombs, money and U.S. blood to prevail in Iraq.
The best military in the world is being run into the ground by the president. That's the only truth the evidence supports. Don't believe anything else. The American people had it right last November and they still have it right today.
The U.S. should begin to get our soldiers - all of our soldiers - out of Iraq now.
Thank you.
Jim McDermott represents Washington State's seventh congressional district, which includes much of Seattle and all of Capitol Hill.
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