On the recordOctober 16, 2003
In all the discussion surrounding the President's request for $20.3 billion for reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan--in the question of whether the funding should be in the form of a grant or a loan, in the revelation of a series of frivolous proposed expenditures, in the dispute over whether reconstruction funding is a gold-plated add-on or an integral part of the occupation strategy--there is an overriding issue that we must not allow to be lost in the noise of the debate. That issue involves the fact that American taxpayers--American taxpayers--are being presented virtually the entire bill for the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq because of decisions that were made by the President before the war began, decisions to embrace an unprecedented doctrine of preemption and to invade Iraq without the support of the United Nations or the international community.
Source
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