Ben Cardin: “I urge us to move forward and consider the Iraq resolution so that every Member of this body can speak on this issue, we…”

“I urge us to move forward and consider the Iraq resolution so that every Member of this body can speak on this issue, we can debate it, and we can cast our votes on what we believe the policy should be for the United States in Iraq. I would like to take us back to October of 2002. I was in the other body in October 2002. I voted against the resolution that gave the President the right to use force in Iraq. Let's remember the basis on which that resolution was passed. We were told that Iraq was in violation of U.N. resolutions concerning weapons of mass destruction and we needed to have the option to use military force in order to enforce that resolution and get rid of weapons of mass destruction. The United States was also concerned about the war against terror, and there were statements made about the war on terror. I might tell you, there was no evidence that Iraq was involved in the attacks on our country on September 11. And, yes, there was a desire by many to get rid of the regime of Saddam Hussein. What has happened since then? Our American troops have been in Iraq. We found no weapons of mass destruction. There are serious questions as to the intelligence information we had and how that was relayed to all of us. Saddam Hussein is gone. He has been removed. The Iraqi Government is now in place. A constitution was adopted. A government was elected. The Maliki government is now responsible for the affairs of Iraq. Times have changed.”