Lynn C. Woolsey: “amidst all the debate about the defense bill, we seem to have forgotten one very, very important thing, which should be…”

“amidst all the debate about the defense bill, we seem to have forgotten one very, very important thing, which should be the driving force behind every decision we make with regard to Iraq. Mr. Speaker, nearly 800 young men and women have lost their lives as a result of the conflict. Eight hundred. We must never forget that people are dying as a result of the decisions of this House. Many of our brave soldiers will never again walk this Earth because of the choices we have made. Many more will be lame for life. Clearly, something is wrong with our Nation's policies when 800 of our soldiers have died in Iraq, most of them after our flight-clad President declared an end to major combat operations. Something is most certainly wrong when events occur such as the abuses in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, or even events like the deaths of five Iraqi prisoners in war-torn detention camps, as the Denver Post recently reported. The fact that these actions occurred in separate places, under the command of different interrogators, demonstrates that this is a systemic problem.”