John Kline: “Mr. Speaker, the proponents of this bill are fond of citing historical examples as they declare the futility of combat…”

“Mr. Speaker, the proponents of this bill are fond of citing historical examples as they declare the futility of combat operations in Iraq. The Congressional Record is full of stories describing the failed British invasion of Gallipoli or the far more popular comparisons to the American experience in Vietnam. Another more prescient historical comparison, however, was made by the British author George Orwell. Contemplating the defeatist rhetoric of the English intelligentsia during the German offensive against Britain in World War II, he remarked, ``The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. And if one finds the prospect of a long war intolerable, it is natural to disbelieve in the possibility of victory.'' Those in favor of the bill presented on the floor today, Mr. Speaker, do not believe in the possibility of victory, despite the protests of the soldiers and Marines returning from the battlefield saying otherwise. By advocating a rapid withdrawal, they endorse the quickest way of ending the war, by losing it.”