Barbara Boxer: “we have spent half a trillion dollars from our Treasury on the war in Iraq, and we know there are 3,000-plus dead…”

“we have spent half a trillion dollars from our Treasury on the war in Iraq, and we know there are 3,000-plus dead, 20,000-plus wounded. I think it is instructive to listen to what President Ronald Reagan once said. He said: History teaches that war begins when governments believe the price tag of aggression is cheap. Let me say that again: History teaches us that war begins when governments believe the price tag of aggression is cheap. Well, the Bush administration thought the price of this war would be cheap. They were wrong. We heard Secretary Rumsfeld tell Congress: The war will last 6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months. Budget Director Mitch Daniels said Iraq 'will be an affordable endeavor.' And we remember the President saying, 'Mission accomplished,' when it wasn't anywhere near accomplished. We remember Vice President Cheney proclaiming 'they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.' They were all wrong, and Congress has to weigh in. That is what this last election was about. We were weighing in with the help of a couple Republicans yesterday. We said to this President: Your one-man show in Iraq is over, Mr. President. You need to deal with the people of this country through their elected representatives. And don't issue these veto threats because that doesn't move us forward. Senator Reid has asked the President to please meet with us; we can talk, we can work things out. So it is really up to him.…”