John Ensign: “I rise today to speak about Iraq. Following the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, our enemies tried to plunge…”

“I rise today to speak about Iraq. Following the bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, our enemies tried to plunge Iraq into chaos, and in certain parts of Iraq they were succeeding. Terrorists and extremists were pitting Iraqi against Iraqi, Sunni against Shia, Shia against Sunni. In Baghdad, Iraqi families were being forced to leave their homes and to resettle in areas where other members of their religious community resided. Iraqi police and army units were nowhere near capable of taking the lead during operations. On the political front, progress was very slow. When the going got tough, many called for U.S. withdrawal and abandonment of Iraq. Thankfully, the President did not listen to the calls for defeat and retreat. The President reviewed our strategy and changed course. This change was needed. I visited Iraq twice before this change of strategy. I can tell you it was a dangerous place. During one of my trips, we had to take a helicopter from the Green Zone to Baghdad International Airport because of an IED threat. In January of 2007, the President and General Petraeus launched the surge of American forces into Iraq. The Iraqi people quickly realized that something dramatic had happened. Those who had worried that America was preparing to abandon them instead saw tens of thousands of American forces flowing into their country.”