Chuck Schumer: “Well, I thank the Chair, and this is a historic night. The Senate will stay in session all night to debate the war in…”

“Well, I thank the Chair, and this is a historic night. The Senate will stay in session all night to debate the war in Iraq, something we should be doing. Frankly, Mr. President, we should have done it a while ago. The bottom line is we need debate and to focus attention on Iraq. We need to change the course in Iraq. We need to bring an end to having American soldiers police, patrol, be wounded, maimed, and killed, as they are in the midst of this civil war not of our country's making. The bottom line is this. We are here to debate the one true resolution that will force the President to change course in Iraq. Many of us, sadly, and with some degree of frustration, believe the President will not change course. Many of us believe the facts on the ground are not apparent to him or, if they are, do not enter into his decision. The view that military strength, and military strength alone, can prevail in Iraq is wrong. The facts do not measure up. The Shia, the Sunni, the Kurds have had age-old enmity. If I had to sum up the problem with the President's policy in a sentence, I would say this: The Shias, the Sunnis, the Kurds dislike each other far more than they might like any central government of Iraq. In a certain sense, what we are trying to do here is to take two ``norths'' on a magnet and try to push them together. The minute we release our hands they will push apart. Those are the facts on the ground that cannot be avoided.”