Jon Kyl: “it is amazing to me that less than a week after the President returned from Iraq, having visited with the new Government…”

“it is amazing to me that less than a week after the President returned from Iraq, having visited with the new Government leaders there, and having disclosed the death of the top al- Qaida leader Zarqawi, in Iraq, colleagues in the Senate would actually be proposing withdrawal from Iraq. The strategy there needs to be to win, not to withdraw. Withdrawal follows victory. If we think about the wars we have gone into--think about World War II, for example--would it have made any sense for the Congress of the United States to pass a resolution saying to Franklin Roosevelt: You set a deadline for getting out of Germany and for getting out of Japan or we are not going to continue to support this effort? It would have been ludicrous at the time. More importantly, it sends a message to our troops, to our enemies, and to our allies, and to the people in Iraq that is devastating. Let me read a letter that was written by one of our soldiers stationed in Fallujah recently to his hometown newspaper in Ridgefield, CT, which expresses what I suspect is the view of many of our soldiers. Here is what he said: In Fallujah, the people watch Al-Jazeerah. However, they also watch CNN. A lot of them fear the United States will soon cut and run. . . . Furthermore, they know that the insurgents will not end their efforts early . . . Therefore, if they help us, their lives and the lives of their loved ones will be in great jeopardy the minute we leave--if we don't finish the job.…”