Political Quotes

“I know many people have been watching General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker reporting on what is going on in Iraq. Obviously, it is very important information, and I would hope we would heed what they are saying. Regrettably, I must say that too many in the Democratic Party remain in denial over the progress being made in Iraq and still remain politically vested in defeat. We have heard the leaders of the party say: Oh, we have already lost. They believe that might give them an advantage in the November elections. That is certainly a bad way to decide what our strategy should be to defend the security of the United States. We have made great progress in our fight against terrorism. The war is far from won, but today there is no question that the central battleground in the global war on terror is Iraq. Our men and women in the military are fighting the al-Qaida terrorists there in Iraq, where Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri say they are going to establish their caliphate. We are fighting that war so that future generations will not have to fight them on our own soil. For my colleagues who argue we should not be fighting them in Iraq but in Afghanistan, let me get you a little bit of intelligence news. Al-Qaida is not in Afghanistan. Al-Qaida left Afghanistan after we deposed Saddam Hussein. What we are fighting there are the indigenous Taliban insurgents, not al-Qaida.”