Lynn C. Woolsey: “not all Members of Congress supported the war in Iraq, but we all have to live with its consequences. The global havoc…”

“not all Members of Congress supported the war in Iraq, but we all have to live with its consequences. The global havoc wreaked by this war will affect the world in ways that we can only imagine today. Let us not forget that more than 1,200 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq. Over 9,000 have been wounded, and an estimated 16,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed as a result of this war. In fact, 16,000 is probably a very low estimate. The growing Iraqi insurgency, like the global War on Terror, cannot be won by being stronger than the insurgents. We cannot win this war with guns and bombs, because for every insurgent we kill, three more sign up. We have to be smarter than the insurgents. We are going to win this battle of conflicting ideologies only if we use our good senses and our good hearts. We know that the anger at the heart of the Iraqi insurgency stems from, at least in part, a deep resentment over the American presence in their country. After years of Saddam Hussein's totalitarian regime, the Iraqi people see the United States as just another occupying force. We have to make a choice in Iraq. Do we want to address the root causes of the insurgency or do we want to continue down our current path, shooting and bombing everything in sight and perpetually fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people? We must reopen the debate about the situation in Iraq to determine why our current policies are not working.”