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 Editorials | Opinions | November 2005 
'Continued Progress in Iraq'
 U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole
| | U.S. Representatives Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) and Thomas Reynolds (R-NY) listen as U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) appear via satellite during an interview with George Stephanopoulos on 'This Week' in Washington November 13, 2005. (Reuters/Linda Spillers/ABC News) |
Iraq is the central battleground in the War on Terror. And yet despite the evident progress, some want to cut and run. They claim that our troops have simply done all that they can do, and that the United States should set arbitrary timelines for withdrawing our forces.
Mr. President, I strongly disagree and believe that setting such a timeline would only embolden the terrorists and send the message that the United States has lost its resolve in the War on Terror. This is the wrong message. Any timeline for withdrawal must be driven by success - not artificially tied to a calendar.
This is not the first time in our history when cynics and skeptics have balked in the face of landmark challenges. A few years may have passed since I had the pleasure of serving President Ronald Reagan in his cabinet, but I can still remember the naysayers attacking him for his fixed resolve in fighting the Cold War. They questioned President Reagan's reasoning, they questioned his strategy, and they questioned America's chances of coming away victorious in a battle to free Russia and other countries from the grasp of communism.
President Reagan rejected communism, he rejected the iron curtain, and he refused to concede that freedom would not prevail. While the Soviet Union was extending its influence and doctrine throughout the world, President Reagan, in the face of severe criticism, pursued a different vision. He knew that the enemy must be defeated, not tolerated. We now know he was right in his actions to bring an end to communism - millions were freed and that global threat no longer exists.
Today, naysayers are at it again. Their droning doubt is all too familiar. Much of this defeatist criticism is being leveled by the very same people who, having access to the same intelligence as the president, agreed that Iraq posed a real and immediate threat. And these very same people supported going into Iraq to fight the War on Terror. Now they want to throw up their hands and walk away before the job is done. ...
...Freedom and democracy in Iraq are the terrorists' worst nightmare. They know what is at stake and try desperately to derail our success. In a letter intercepted last month from Bin Laden's deputy Zawahiri to Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq - the terror network's plan was exposed: to expel the Americans from Iraq, establish radical Islamist authority in the country, and extend the terrorists' jihad into neighboring countries and around the world. They seek to destroy our very way of life. We cannot cut and run -We know all too well what is at stake in this global war against terror. To our men and women in uniform who are protecting our freedom and our security - I say thank you and God bless you - you make us so very proud.
Mr. President, I yield the floor. |
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