Bill Delahunt: “Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with my friend and colleague from Florida. This is a special country and a special…”

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree with my friend and colleague from Florida. This is a special country and a special Nation and our men and women who are serving us in Iraq are special to us, to all of us. The article that I alluded to earlier and mentioned the name of Private Clausen, I would like to quote from other soldiers who are in Baghdad currently who are fighting, are in the combat, and their observations, and I would encourage my colleagues on both sides to listen to their words. They get it. They understand. They know what is happening on the ground. They know the reality of Iraq. Lieutenant Antonio Hardy. These are his words: ``To be honest, it's going to be like this for a long time to come, no matter what we do. I think some people in America don't want to know about all this violence, about all the killings. The people back home are shielded from it. They get it sugar-coated.'' Sergeant Herbert Gill: ``What is victory supposed to look like? Every time we turn around and go into a new area, there's somebody waiting to kill us. Once more raids start happening, they'll melt away. And then 2 or 3 months later, when we leave and we say it's a success, they'll come back.'' Our troops get it. I referred earlier to Private Zack Clausen. Let me repeat his words: ``We can get into a firefight and empty our ammo, but it doesn't accomplish much. This is not our war--we're in the middle.'' Listen to these voices.…”