William L. Clay: “I rise to declare my absolute and unwavering opposition to the President's plan to escalate this tragic and unnecessary…”

“I rise to declare my absolute and unwavering opposition to the President's plan to escalate this tragic and unnecessary war. Four years ago, I stood on the floor of this House to oppose the original force authorization resolution. At the time, some of my colleagues cautioned me that I was taking a risk by opposing the President and failing to support the war against terrorism. But I took that position because I believed then and still believe today that great nations do not start wars as a matter of policy, they exercise diplomacy and negotiation to avert threats and achieve security. The evidence that the administration presented did not clearly establish any imminent threat to our national security. I was convinced that invading Iraq, without international support and without unequivocal evidence that Iraq was involved in 9/11, would dangerously drain our military strength, distract us from fighting the very real terrorist threat, and ultimately weaken our credibility around the world. Now we can see that the world in Iraq has emboldened our enemies and provoked the scorn of our allies. Madam Speaker, standing here 4 years later, I can only wish that my assumptions were wrong, that invading Iraq was somehow vital to our national security. We were told that there were weapons of mass destruction, and now we know there were no WMDs.”