Daniel Inouye: “Mr. President I ask that the following editorial which was written by my good friend, former Senator Fritz Hollings, and…”

“Mr. President I ask that the following editorial which was written by my good friend, former Senator Fritz Hollings, and published in the Charleston Post and Courier on October 27, 2005, be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Misled About Iraq, Secure It or Leave A G.I. with his legs blown away in Iraq asks, ``Senator, why did we go into Iraq?'' Answer: ``to secure Israel by democratizing the Mideast.'' Immediately my over-sensitive Jewish friends withdraw in horror: ``There you go, blaming Israel.'' Not at all. The fact is that Israel opposed the plan. Now, with our unwarranted invasion and al-Jazeera reporting daily on U.S. ``atrocities,'' we are spreading terrorism and have damaged the security of Israel. In 1996, incoming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel commissioned a think-tank headed by Richard Pearle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser. The three submitted the plan ``Clean Break'': Negotiating with Arafat is futile. Instead, secure Israel by democratizing the Middle East. First bomb Lebanon. Next invade Syria on the pretext of it possessing weapons of mass destruction. Then replace Saddam with a Hashemite ruler favorable to Israel. Netanyahu rejected ``Clean Break.'' Determined, Pearle, Feith and Wurmser returned to the United States and joined in the Project for the New American Century with Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld and Scooter Libby, among others.…”