Chuck Schumer: “Somehow--and there will be many debates as to how--what we are doing in Iraq has largely evolved into fighting a civil…”

“Somehow--and there will be many debates as to how--what we are doing in Iraq has largely evolved into fighting a civil war, into patrolling a civil war, into policing a civil war, and, yes, into fighting it at times. The age-old enmity between the Sunnis and Shiites, of course, has exploded. Once Saddam Hussein was gone, it was perhaps inevitable that it would occur, particularly without any real authority in large parts of the country. Most of what our soldiers are doing, and most of those who come back from making the ultimate sacrifice, dying or making a large sacrifice by being wounded, are doing is not fighting terrorism but, rather, policing, patrolling, and even fighting in a civil war. That is not what the American people bargained for. That is not what President Bush stated when we began going into Iraq. In fact, he has never stated that. Now they say we need to bring order to allow their government to work, but that is a fallacious argument for two reasons.”