Bill Delahunt: “And I think you have stated it well, Tim, and that is that despite the reality, because of political needs on the part…”

“And I think you have stated it well, Tim, and that is that despite the reality, because of political needs on the part of the Republican majority, the American people are not getting the truth. I am not suggesting that there is intentional misleading on the part of our colleagues. I think that they hope so profoundly that they have created an alternative reality. How can a Republican Member come to the floor and say on one hand we have got to be careful of Iran and things are going well in Iraq and the only thing that I can see, in addition to the report of the National Intelligence Estimate, is that Iraq is going in the direction of Iran? Some day we could wake up and there is an alliance. There is an alliance. There are connections. The leadership in Baghdad during the Saddam Hussein regime, many of them resided in Tehran, and what we have here is a symbol of the two leaders of both of these countries executing military cooperation agreements. Is that the direction that the American administration intended when they launched a war into Iraq, that we would create a hegemon in the region, in Iran, that would be allied with Iraq? Now, I am not suggesting it is a formal alliance, but you tell me what direction it is going in. Have an oversight hearing on it.”