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2005 Ron Paul Chapter 69
Ron Paul’s Congressional website
... Cached
Congressional Record [.PDF]
HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 21, 2005
Rebutting the Critics of the Iraq Withdrawal Resolution
2005 Ron Paul 69:1
Last week HJ Res 55
was introduced.
This resolution
requires the President to develop and implement a plan for the
withdrawal of US
troops from Iraq.
The plan would be
announced before December 31, 2005, with the withdrawal to commence no
later
than October 1, 2006.
The media and
opponents of this plan immediately-- and incorrectly-- claimed it would
set a
date certain for a total withdrawal.
The
resolution, hardly radical in nature, simply restates the policy
announced by
the administration.
We’ve been
told repeatedly that there will be no permanent occupation of Iraq, and
the
management will be turned over to the Iraqis as soon as possible.
2005 Ron Paul 69:2
The resolution merely
pressures the administration to be more precise in its stated goals,
and make
plans to achieve them in a time frame that negates the perception we
are
involved in a permanent occupation of Iraq.
2005 Ron Paul 69:3
The sharpest criticism of this resolution is that it would, if implemented, give
insurgents in Iraq information that is helpful to their cause and
harmful to our
troops.
This is a reasonable
concern, which we addressed by not setting a precise time for exiting
Iraq.
The critics inferred that the enemy should never have any hint
as to our
intentions.
2005 Ron Paul 69:4
Yet as we prepared to
invade Iraq, the administration generously informed the Iraqis exactly
about our
plans to use “shock and awe” military force.
With this information many Iraqi fighters, anticipating
immediate
military defeat, disappeared into the slums and hills to survive to
fight
another day-- which they have.
2005 Ron Paul 69:5
One could argue that
this information made available to the enemy was clearly used against
us.
This argument used to criticize HJ Res 55, that it might reveal
our
intentions, is not automatically valid.
It
could just as easily be argued that conveying to the enemy that we do
not plan
an indefinite occupation-- as is the stated policy-- will save many
American
lives.
2005 Ron Paul 69:6
But what we convey or
do not convey to the Iraqi people is not the most crucial issue.
The more important issues are:
Do
the American people deserve to know more about our goals, the length of
time we
can expect to be in Iraq, and how many more Americans are likely to be
killed
and wounded; will there be a military draft; what is the likelihood of
lingering
diseases that our veterans may suffer (remember Agent Orange and
Persian Gulf
War Syndrome?); and how many more tax dollars are required to fight
this war
indefinitely?
2005 Ron Paul 69:7
The message insurgents need to hear and believe is that we are serious when we say
we have
no desire for a permanent occupation of Iraq.
We
must stick to this policy announced by the administration.
2005 Ron Paul 69:8
A plausible argument
can be made that the guerillas are inspired by our presence in Iraq,
which to
them seems endless.
Iraqi deaths,
whether through direct U.S. military action, collateral damage, or
Iraqis
killing Iraqis, serve to inspire an even greater number of Iraqis to
join the
insurgency.
Because we are in
charge, we are blamed for all the deaths.
2005 Ron Paul 69:9
Continuing to
justify our presence in Iraq
because we must punish those responsible for 9/11 is disingenuous to
say the
least.
We are sadly now at greater
risk than before 9/11.
We refuse to
deal with our own borders while chastising the Syrians for not securing
their
borders with Iraq.
An end game
needs to be in place, and the American people deserve to know exactly
what that
plan is.
They are the ones who must
send their sons and daughters off to war and pay the bills when they
come due.
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