Finally, someone in Washington gets it.
United States Senate, September 12, 2006
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION
---
THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS TO THE NATION
---
Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I come to the Senate floor in sadness. The President of the United States gives an address about the condition of our country 5 years after the events of 9/11. He gives an address and lays out the scope of the problem we are confronting. There are people all across this world who subscribe to a radical, perverted form of Islam and want to destroy everything we believe in. That is the enemy we are confronting. We are in an active war with our military against them in Afghanistan and Iraq . That is the reality.
The minority leader just referred to it as sectarian violence. What is that word? Religious? Religious violence. Radical Islam violence--some Sunni, some Shia, but both are radical in their nature, and they are fighting us. That is the reality of the enemy today. The very people who planned the attacks are the people who are in Iraq . Al-Qaida is in Iraq causing that sectarian violence. Should we ignore that? I ask the Senator from Nevada , should we just ignore that, pretend they are not there, not talk about that last night, pretend al-Qaida is not in Iraq ? Is this not part of the mission we are trying to accomplish?
It is sad. We are at war against an enemy that I happen to believe is the most dangerous enemy ever to confront this country, and we play petty politics constantly here on the floor of the Senate--even after a solemn day of remembrance for the valued people who died on September 11. It is chilling. We just cannot get past the politics around here, just cannot get past the partisan advantage around here. We cannot face the reality that we have a dangerous enemy out there who wants to destroy everything we hold dear, an enemy who is very clear about what they want to accomplish. How clear? They say it--not to Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes,'' I might add. No, when you are spinning in English in America, you put on the nice face, you put on the happy face that we want peace and want to live together in brotherhood and all this wonderful stuff.
But that is a lie. When they go back and speak in Arabic and Farsi, they give a very different story. It is a consistent story, I might add. It is the destruction of the State of Israel, and it is the submission of the infidels to what they believe in. That is the enemy we confront. It is real. We can play politics about it and say it is not real. We can say it is a trumped-up war. They are at war with us. We may not want to be at war with them, but they are at war with us--not just in Afghanistan and Iraq, not just in southern Lebanon , not just in Great Britain , but here. They want to defeat us. Their intent is to defeat us. They are motivating people in the Middle East and around the world to join their ranks and attack us.
One of the things I learned from my days in Little League, and in everything else I have ever engaged in, is that one of the ways to lose anything you are engaged in with an opponent is not to take your opponent seriously, not to look at what they are really about, and not look at their capability. I remember early that in this war many were calling the terrorists cowards, as if these people were weak and they had no real resolve. These people are not weak. They are misguided--horribly misguided--but they are not weak. They are a dangerous enemy. They are a dangerous enemy that has an ideology that is motivating people, and they have a tactic that is uniquely effective against us.
As Osama bin Laden says, "We will defeat you because you love life; we love death.'' And we do love life in this country because we have a lot to live for. We have great freedom, great material wealth. We have a wonderful culture. They, on the other hand, for the most part have none of those. They love death because they see death as better than life. They are willing to die. In fact, they want to die. We have never fought an enemy like this. We have never fought an enemy who wanted to die as part of the victory for them. We always fought enemies who saw death as a tragic consequence of war, and their objective was an earthly kingdom. Not this enemy. This enemy says death is part of the war--a desire for those entering into this battle--and their kingdom is not one they want to build here but one they want to achieve after death. This is an enemy who wants a nuclear weapon in Iran , not because they want to stave off attacks, no, but because they want to use it to pursue their messianic vision of the return of the 12th Imam, or Hidden Imam.
I give speeches all across Pennsylvania and lay out for the people of my State this vision of President Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad and the rulers of Iran, the vision of the 12th, or Hidden, Imam, who is to return at the end of time. That is what the Shias believe. But President Ahmadi-Nejad and the rulers of Iran believe different than most Shias, thank God. They believe it is their obligation to bring about the end of time by the destruction of the State of Israel and by world chaos in which Islam is suppressing the infidels, and only at that time will this Hidden Imam return and the actualization of their religion come to pass.
This is a serious enemy, an enemy with resources. This is an enemy with growing technology, and this is an enemy with fervent disciples who are willing to go around and kill themselves in pursuit of this objective. This is not something to be played politics with. This is not something to ignore and pass off as sectarian violence that we brought about because we happen to be there. These people have been at war with us for 20 years, and we have chosen to ignore them. We paid a very high price.
So what is our lesson? If you listen to the Democratic leader, it is: Let's continue to ignore them. Let's continue to play politics. Let's put domestic politics ahead of the security of this country.
That is his message--that this is not real, this is trumped up, and if we leave them alone, they will leave us alone. Oh, really? Do you really believe that? If we leave these people alone, do you believe that somehow we would be safe here? We can just garrison America , make all public buildings like we have here at the Capitol--put Jersey barriers around everything and have police on every corner. We can protect ourselves from these people. Is that the America in which we want to live? Not me.
We are at war--the most serious war this country has ever faced against an opponent like none we have ever faced. Yet we play politics. We ignore the reality. We can pretend they are just not there--at least until November, at least until we can get control. Then maybe we will come to our senses and recognize the grave threat that confronts our country.
No, the President did not give a political speech last night. He spoke of the reality of the conflict that is before us. It is not popular to do so, I know. It is not popular to stand up and support a conflict that is difficult to deal with every day. But understand that is exactly what they have in mind.
Did you ever wonder why they don't kill 3,000 people in 1 day? They have the capability of doing so. You just send out, instead of 1 every day or 2 every day, you send out 200 in 1 day. Why not? Why don't they just have one mass, huge offensive? It is because that is not what they are all about. That is not a terrorist tactic.
The terrorist tactic is to cause death every single day. It doesn't matter who but just cause death. So why? To defeat the military? No, their objective isn't to defeat the military or drive back the lines of our troops or to control more area. No, those deaths are not aimed at our military, they are aimed at us. Every day they want to make it harder for you and you and you and you to open the paper, to turn on the television, to see more death.
This is the steady drumbeat of the psychological war of terror being inflicted on the American public. They will keep up the drumbeat every single day--not in big conflagrations but every day--to make it painful, to make it hard.
They want one thing out of us. They know our military, and I am going to submit for the record an assessment from a serviceman who wrote me who provided his experience in Iraq of success, I might add.
Our military knows they must win this war, and they are succeeding at some level. They are not attacking our military. They are attacking us psychologically every single day until finally they get us to say one word--enough. Enough. We have had enough. We can't take this anymore. It is just too hard.
They believe we will say ``enough'' because they believe we are weak. They believe we and the modern world just don't have the stomach to fight and die for what we believe in anymore. We like our ``things'' too much, and so we will just leave them alone until they get stronger and stronger and in a position to do more and more damage to our children and grandchildren.
The President is right. This is our hour. We can play politics with the hour, we can seek political advantage to win the next election with this hour, or we can confront the reality of this hour and do something about it.
On my watch, even though I am facing what many consider to be a difficult time back in Pennsylvania , I am going to confront the reality of the threat to me, to this country, and to our children and grandchildren. It is too important to walk away and play politics to get reelected. It is too important to the future of this country to minimize the threat that we are engaged in and play politics with it.
It may win or lose elections. Matters not to me. It matters not to me. What matters is defending our country when it needs to be defended, not putting personal politics above what is in the best interest of the national security of this country.
I believe the President, given all the mistakes that this administration has made in the conduct of this war--and they certainly are numerous--the President has it right. This is the greatest threat for our generation, and I pray we have the courage to confront it.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to print the assessment from 1LT Jeremy Burke in the RECORD.
* * *
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
MY MISSION
Foreign Military Advising by Military Transition Teams, MiTTs, is currently the Main Effort for the U.S. Military in Iraq . The current objective of CENTCOM is to build and train the Iraqi Security Forces in order that they can take over control of the security in their battlespace. MiTT teams advise on everything from logistical planning, operational management and command & control (C2) of their units. I was an advisor for the 3rd Brigade of the 3rd Division, Iraqi Army.
Overall assessment: I believe we have been extremely successful in our efforts to secure peace and freedom in Iraq . Many people in Iraq are now enjoying freedoms that they never could before. For those born during Saddam's reign of terror, they are tasting freedom for the first time. All over Iraq we are turning over control of security to Iraqi Security Forces like the Army, Border Police and the regular Police. Our presence there as American military is to backup the Iraqis when they need help. They are finally standing on their own two feet. Now we're just letting them get balanced.
AREAS OF SUCCESS WITH IRAQI ARMY
(1) Control of Security: We started out August 2005 and our Iraqi counterparts were assessed at being able to take over control of their battles pace no earlier than 18 months. 10 months later, in June 2006, they completed their validation exercise and we transitioned battle space authority over to Iraqi Army control.
(2) Communications: At onset of our mission our Iraqi counterparts were severely limited in communications and they could not talk between 2 of their 3 battalions nor their Brigade rear location. We needed to locate the appropriate equipment for them and get it issued out. Then we had the task of training them how to utilize all their commo gear and put it into use.
Now they have a Codan radio base station set up at their Brigade (BDE) Headquarters, BDE rear and at each Battalion location. Each location is now capable of communicating across their entire battle space, 16,000 sq KM.
Their vehicles now have mobile Codan radios to communicate between their maneuver elements and their headquarters.
They now have Internet access to send status reports to Division headquarters and to receive and send information from their battalions.
Command & Control: When we arrived in August of 2005 they had no functioning Tactical Operations Center (TOC) in which to manage subordinate units, track convoys, manage information flow and oversee operations.
After months of training and preparation, we helped them open the first Iraqi Army Brigade TOC on January 15, 2006.
All IA BDE communications are handled out of their TOC.
A representative from the S2 (Intelligence) and S3 (Operations) is working in this TOC all day and in the evening. At night there are two enlisted soldiers manning the radios and acting as a runner.
The S3 is tracking units on the ground with large wall sized maps that we provided for them. The S2 tracks enemy activity or a long period of time on an exact replica of the operations map.
As the Coalition Forces Liaison Officer (LNO), I worked 7 days a week in their TOC providing classes on: map reading, Intelligence Analysis, and reporting.
Now that our IA counterparts have taken over control of their battle space a U.S. LNO will work in their TOC as a means of bridging communications between the IA units on the ground and U.S. units providing support. Examples of this function are when an Iraqi convoy is hit with an IED attack they call back to their TOC, then the Iraqi officer in charge would request assistance and I would call in a MEDEVAC request to the U.S. Headquarters in the area.
Pay & Promotions: At the beginning of our mission, approximately 75 percent of the IA Brigade we advised had some sort of pay or promotion issue. The most common example of this was a soldier was promoted but the Ministry of Defense, MOD, had yet to recognize the promotion so they were still being paid at their old pay grade.
When I left Iraq , the Brigade's pay issues were down to 4 percent.
The Brigade S1 and the Division G1, Personnel, now work closely together and get actively involved in resolving pay issues to include traveling to Baghdad to meet directly with the Personnel Department at MOD.
MOD still has problems recognizing promotions when they come but at least now the soldier might only have 1-2 months to wait for it to be resolved as opposed to years as it was before.
(3) Vehicle Maintenance: This is still a difficult problem for the Iraqis but they are slowing making headway. They are facing a difficult task with maintenance because their culture has not adopted the idea of operator maintenance as a personal responsibility. The wealthy would just abandon a vehicle if it died on the road. The lower classes simply use a Duct Tape resolution to solve maintenance issues. One of their problems now is that since they didn't conduct periodic maintenance on their vehicles they have a lot of work to catch up on as they get more involved. Upon our arrival in August 2005, they had dozens of deadlined, inoperable, vehicles just strewn about their bases, which made their motor pools look more like junkyards.
U.S. advisors in Baghdad worked with MOD to set up a National Maintenance Contract for the Army's vehicles. For our unit they bring all their vehicles back to the Division base where the maintenance facilities are and can get any kind of repair done they need--to include newly issued HUMMWVs.
In December of 2005 we started sending soldiers from our Brigade to the maintenance course also run by the NMC group. Soldiers become qualified to perform various levels of maintenance on their vehicles. After the course they spend time at the maintenance facility to get ``on the job'' training before returning to their units.
(4) Logistics: Logistical support, in my mind, is now their biggest obstacle to being a successful, self-sustaining military.
MOD has not come up with appropriate plan to provide fuel for the Iraqi Security Forces, ISF. Currently the U.S. supplies some fuel to the ISF but that is being cut off--probably by August 2006.
[Page: S9325]
Life Support Contracts are set up and managed by MOD but there is no MOD rep to monitor them locally except for an army officer. In some cases this has led to corruption, in other cases it has allowed local vendors to operate with no quality control.
OVERALL SENTIMENT OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE
Generally the people of Iraq are appreciative of the United States , want our Military to stay as long as possible to ensure their safety and security.
Some portions of the population are happy that we can provide for their safety and are grateful that we ousted Saddam. But they will be equally as happy when we leave. This is more of an Arab cultural thing. Arab culture is driven by pride and shame. These people might be embarrassed that they could not secure their freedoms themselves and now would like us to leave so they can take over from here. And some simply don't want Westerners controlling their future.
When we traveled to various villages we were typically well received. Kids run out to the convoy in hopes that they'll get candy or water. Village leaders come out to greet us and invite us in to sit and talk while we drink Chai. When we entered a village and people looked away or closed their doors to us, it almost always meant that they were being intimidated by the terrorists. It was these villages that we spent more time. We'd come back as often as possible, bringing clothes, food, and commanders of all levels from the Iraqi Army and the Coalition to meet with tribal leadership. When we caught Saddam Hussein, there were celebrations at every village we went to. People were both relieved and overjoyed. And they thanked us in whatever way they could. When U.S. forces killed Abu Musab Zarqawi, people celebrated in the streets firing their guns in the air, they offered us food and gifts when we visited villages. These were true inspiring patriotic moments for Iraq .
When a suicide bomber attacks an Army or Police recruiting station and kills many people, the following day the lines waiting to join up are 3-4 times larger. People are looking for jobs and they see joining the Iraqi Security Forces as a great opportunity to make a living and do their part in getting rid of the terrorism rampant in their region of the world.
We are seeing lots of economic expansion everywhere. Strip malls are being constructed, businesses are expanding and franchises are popping up. New homes are being constructed all over the country. And people are spending money, looking for new types of goods to buy and they desire goods and services that are currently available throughout the rest of the world. Satellite TV has been a big help with this.
OBSTACLES
Fuel--Currently fuel is a major crisis not only for the Iraqi Security Forces but for the general population as well. The issue is not for a lack of oil, but a lack of functioning refineries--2 shut down in November. It has started to limit the ability of the Iraqi Security Forces to conduct long-range operations.
Border Crossings--Foreign Fighters and Terrorist support still continues to flow across the Syrian Border. Smuggling of fuel, cigarettes and other goods is commonplace and put a big strain on the ability of the Border Police to shut down the border. Lack of fuel has reduced the number of border patrols that are conducted. Long lines at the Point of Entry have caused many people to come across illegally. Some smuggling is being conducted as a direct support mechanism for terrorists.
Corruption: Very problematic in all areas of the Iraqi Security Forces. But it is also misunderstood. Some levels of corruption are generally accepted in Arab culture. It is the way they have done business and government for so long that they have come to allow it--to an extent. Some of the areas of corruption that we've seen are when soldiers or police at checkpoints or border crossings do not check cars as they come through. They will sometimes take payments in order to speed a vehicle through the checkpoint. We began cracking down on this during Spring of 2006. There are also kickbacks with contractors--this is very typical and also very accepted.
Mr. SANTORUM. I yield the floor.
Oh, and if can't recall the speech that had Senator Santorum so fired up, here it is:
PRESIDENT'S 9/11 SPEECH -- (Senate - September 12, 2006)
[Page: S9322]
---
[Page: S9322]
---
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I was honored to join with President Bush and others at the Pentagon yesterday to commemorate the fifth anniversary of 9/11. I was pleased, also to join my colleagues on the east steps of the Capitol last evening in an emotional tribute to those who died on that fateful day 5 years ago.
Mr. President, 9/11 was one of the darkest days of this Nation's history. It brought America together. We were inspired by the bravery of our fellow Americans. We stood shoulder to shoulder with the President. And when he stood upon the mound of rubble at Ground Zero, with a bullhorn in hand, he spoke for all of us.
Last night, however, the President, in his address to the Nation, spoke for himself, for his administration, and not for the Nation. No bullhorn, only the bully pulpit of his office, which he used to defend an unpopular war in Iraq and to launch clumsily disguised barbs at those who disagree with his policies.
By focusing on Iraq in the manner he did, the President engaged in an all-too-familiar Bush administration tactic: conflate and blur the war in Iraq with the response to 9/11.
Despite definitive and repeated findings that there were no ties between Iraq and al-Qaida--a finding most recently echoed by the Republican-controlled Senate Intelligence Committee--the President continued to deliberately lump and blur al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, Iraq, and 9/11 together.
This is a political move designed to tap the overwhelming public sentiment to destroy al-Qaida as a way to bolster sagging public support for the war in Iraq .
Despite the President's best efforts, the American people can see through this ploy--as we have seen with the pundits' comments following his speech and editorials all across the country today. The American people understand that Iraq is largely a sectarian struggle and that the longer we are bogged down in the streets of Baghdad , the easier it is for al-Qaida and its affiliates to reconstitute in places such as Afghanistan and Somalia .
Americans understand that this administration's ``stay the course'' strategy is hurting our security and moving Iraq in the wrong direction. Unemployment in Iraq is high. It is 40 to 50 percent unemployment, at least. Some places, it is 70 and 80 percent.
News accounts today say that inflation is now 75 percent in Iraq . An average of a thousand Iraqis are dying each month in Iraq . Is that a civil war? I think so. News accounts, the last couple of days--one, in fact, today said: `` Iraq conflict worsens.'' The General Accounting Office, the watchdog of Congress, a nonpartisan organization, said that the Iraq conflict worsens.
We heard two days ago an Army general saying that the Anbar province is lost. We have a general, even before he is retired, saying that Secretary Rumsfeld said he would fire anyone who tried to develop a plan after the soldiers went into Iraq . He would fire them. There was no planning as to how the peace would take place.
The American people deserved better last night. They deserved a break from the politics that honored the spirit of 9/11, a chance to reclaim that sense of unity, purpose, and patriotism which swept through our country 5 years ago--feelings only the Commander in Chief could have inspired, that he should have tried to inspire. He didn't. Last night was not the time for a political partisan speech. Sadly, it was a missed opportunity for President Bush, who obviously was more consumed by staying the course in Iraq and playing election year partisan politics than changing the direction for this wonderful country.
I yield the floor.
END
(right click image, then "Save as")
Stumble It!
