Political Quotes

“last Sunday, May 1, marked the 2-year anniversary of President Bush's speech abroad the USS Lincoln, the ``mission accomplished'' speech. So what have we accomplished in the last 2 years? Saddam Hussein's regime has fallen. Yet today we find ourselves mired in an endless occupation. This past January witnessed a successful election, yet progress on developing a functioning government has been slow at best. The terror and the insurgency remain as strong as ever and seems to be growing at certain points. Explosions killed more than 100 people last week alone. The economy is stalled, the civil society is unable to come together, and millions of Iraqis remain without regular electrical services and basic services from their government. The brave men and women of the United States Armed Forces continue to fight a very vigorous fight, but the battle has taken its toll. We have lost 1,600 fellow citizens in the last 2 years, 2\1/2\ years, and more than 12,000 have been wounded. The strain has been so great that recruiters cannot meet their enlistment goals. Through the first 5 months of fiscal year 2005, the Army is short of their recruitment goal by 15 percent. The Pentagon now says that they are stretched so thin it would be difficult for the military to meet other obligations should they need to do so. Mr. Speaker, Operation Iraqi Freedom was a war of choice. And as President Kennedy once said, to govern is to choose.…”