Political Quotes

“I wish to address the FISA bill. I also commend our majority and minority leaders on their statements about the lives that have been lost by our brave troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe there are a couple of comments that are appropriate. Number 1, it was said that General Petraeus said the war is not going to be won militarily. That is the key point which General Petraeus has brought to the battle. There is a kinetic and nonkinetic impact of the counterinsurgency strategy that General Petraeus has laid out and that is showing such great progress in Iraq. Today, the news is not dominated by Iraq. Those people who have been criticizing it don't talk about it because General Petraeus's strategy is working. It is not just the surge; it is the strategy, the counterinsurgency strategy, or COIN, as it is sometimes called. That involves clearing, holding, and building. There is a real difference between the approach we took right after the fall of Saddam Hussein, which has been haphazardly called the 'whack a mole' theory--we would go out, send our troops out, trying to keep a small footprint.”