National Security :
Today, the United States faces a grave challenge: oppressive governments and harsh economic conditions in parts of the Middle East and Asia have bred a hatred for the United States that is hard for many of us to fathom. Well-financed terrorist groups have made it clear that they will stop at nothing to see America hurt. Experts have begun to talk about a major attack on American soil -- using weapons of mass destruction -- as a question not of 'if', but 'when'.
At a time like this, there is no question that America must be prepared to defend herself from threats at a moment's notice. I firmly believe that if a nation poses a threat to the safety of the American people, then we must act immediately, and decisively, to neutralize that threat. We must not wait for other nations to give us permission.
As we now know, however, the threat posed to Americans and the world by Saddam Hussein was not as dire and immediate as it was portrayed. The decision to go to war was made on faulty intelligence. Our intelligence gathering failed us at a critical time. Even more serious, our civilian leadership exercised poor judgment in making the decision to invade. They chose to go into Iraq with an invasion force one-half the size recommended by senior military officers. They failed to anticipate and plan for a prolonged guerilla war.
Given the enormous costs of this war to the people of the United States, these are very serious matters. But, for me, that is where that particular discussion ends. And I'll tell you why. We, as a nation, cannot afford to dwell on these mistakes any longer. We must focus our attention on finding solutions to the very serious challenges we face today.
It is disgraceful to see Washington politicians trying to score political points by calling Iraq an abject failure (which it is not) or by suggesting that it will be a beacon of Western Democracy in the Middle East the day after tomorrow (which it will not). Let's not have civilian politicians standing up saying we ought to withdraw 20,000 troops by the end of the year. Such a move runs the risk of destabilizing Iraq further just when we are seeing real signs of progress. And let's not make public comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam. This not only demoralizes our troops, but also ignores the facts.
Can Iraq be stabilized? I have not yet met the person who can argue convincingly 'yes', or convincingly 'no' in answering that question. But, certainly, there is reason to hope. The efforts of the United States military in Iraq have been heroic. We have made real progress building schools, hospitals and other vital infrastructure. We have made real progress creating local governing bodies. With the recent passage of a draft constitution, we have made real progress toward creating a system of governance that can bring the Iraqi people a level of peace and prosperity that would be unprecedented in the region. Iraq's economy is booming. Many Iraqis who were denied employment under Saddam Hussein's regime now have jobs. Banks, restaurants and other small businesses are popping up on once desolate streets. In August 2005, new business registrations surpassed 30,000. Experts say there are many more new businesses that have not yet registered.
Just as important, there are real signs that the Iraqi people will embrace democracy and the rule of law. On October 15th, tens of thousands of Iraqis put their lives at risk to exercise their democratic right to vote. When asked why they did it, again and again they said they were voting for the future of their nation; they were voting to bring a better future for their children. The world should celebrate this achievement. This is a triumph of democratic values. It is the first big step on the road to an independent, democratic and constitutional Iraq.
But, at the same time that we honor this achievement, we must recognize that the road ahead is full of peril. We have not succeeded in bringing security to Iraq, and as a result an estimated 30,000 Iraqi civilians have lost their lives since this war began. This absence of security threatens to undermine everything we have achieved in Iraq. Without rule of law, there is a very real risk that Iraq will slip into chaos and civil war. For our troops in harms way, this is an unacceptable risk. For the Iraqi people, this is an unacceptable risk. For the global community, this is an unacceptable risk.
Clearly, we must have a plan beyond the president's one-liner that we should "stay in Iraq for as long as it takes." The United States has the greatest military in the world, and there is no nation – and very likely no combination of nations – that can defeat us in a conventional war. But that, sadly, means little in Iraq. And the sooner we recognize this, the better off we will be.
No amount of tactical search and destroy missions by US forces will bring security to Iraq. Each time we kill or capture insurgents, we run the risk of killing or imprisoning innocent civilians. Each time we bomb an insurgent stronghold, we run the risk of bombing non-combatants' homes, schools or places of worship. And so, each time our troops go out into the field in Iraq, more Iraqis come to distrust the United States, to distrust our purpose in Iraq and, perhaps, to actively support the insurgent cause of removing us. And each time our forces come back from a mission like this – a mission that achieves little, but that leaves one US soldier dead, another maimed for life – their morale dips a little lower. We have now lost more than 2,000 uniformed dead in Iraq. More than 14,000 have been wounded in action, half of them maimed for life.
If we continue to operate as we have been operating in Iraq, there may literally be no end to this cycle. The most basic and difficult fact of this war is this: there are not enough troops on the ground in Iraq to bring security and stability to the country. That's why I believe we must now work, with all the diplomatic force we can muster, to increase the commitment of troops and funds from other nations.
It's true, more than 30 countries have committed troops to Iraq. But the U.S. contributes 88 percent of the foreign troops currently on the ground in Iraq. Too many nations with a vital stake in a stable and strong Iraq are sitting on the sidelines while the death toll of American soldiers climbs day-by-day. Too many are sitting on the sidelines while the cost to the American treasury continues to mount. This war has already cost the American people more than $200 billion dollars, at a time when we are facing the largest deficit in our history.
We cannot win the war on terror if our military is stretched to the breaking point in Iraq. And we cannot provide Americans at home with the economic security they deserve – whether it is our military veterans, our elderly, or our poor; whether it is the victims of natural disasters, or of the victims of companies moving jobs off-shore -- if we do not get our national budget under control.
If we are serious about fighting for a future without Islamist militancy in the Middle East, we must work more closely with people around the globe. We must make the building of a free and prosperous Iraq a global responsibility.
I believe we can do this. We are empowering the people of Iraq to take their destiny into their own hands, because we understand that those who control their own destiny will have nothing to fear from democracy, civil rights, and economic development. We understand that people who control their own destiny will join us in standing up against the forces of terror and murder. I believe the nations of the world will rally to this message, if it is delivered with sincerity and respect. I believe the world will respond to this message, and recognize that success in Iraq makes us all better off, while failure in Iraq threatens to unleash instability and warfare whose consequences no nation will escape.
A little more than one year ago, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said any premature departure of international forces "would cause a humanitarian crisis and provide a foothold for terrorists to launch their evil campaign in our country and beyond our borders." It was true then, and it is true today.
There is a way. It is up to us to summon the will.