Donald M. Payne: “I rise to stand in solidarity with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) and other Members who are calling for…”

“I rise to stand in solidarity with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) and other Members who are calling for an end to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. As other Members have stated earlier, I commend the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Woolsey) for her persistence, for her 100 days of bringing this issue before the American people as she has so clearly articulated the facts as related to our situation in Iraq. The war in Iraq has become a crisis of global proportions. Every day there are violent attacks on innocent civilians in Iraq and on our service men and women stationed there. We have seen the fact that the President has overstated the situation in Iraq. We are starting to see a backlash around the world. Just recently, Egypt's Ambassador to Iraq was kidnapped and subsequently killed. Algeria's diplomatic staff of only a handful of people have been withdrawn because, even though the North African country has no troops in Iraq, just to represent the current government and recognize it, two of its staff were kidnapped last week. The President has overstated the threat that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and biological and chemical weapons in order to frighten the American public into giving him preemptive strike ability and for the support of this war. The U.S.…”