Gregory Meeks: “Mr. Speaker, this week the Congress finally takes up its obligation to change course in Iraq. We have arrived at a new…”

“Mr. Speaker, this week the Congress finally takes up its obligation to change course in Iraq. We have arrived at a new moment. Few responsibilities are more solemn for a Member of this body than one in which he or she is obligated to register a vote of no confidence in their President in a time of war. Under different circumstances, I think most Americans would want to give their President the benefit of the doubt on matters of war, that they would want to trust the President's judgment to do what is right for our country, for our national security interests, and for our troops and their families who never leave our prayers. It is a measure of how desperate matters have become in Iraq that the Congress considers this resolution of disapproval. Today, we find ourselves embroiled in a war that is not winnable, a religious war that is inconsistent with our original mission there, a war the American people no longer support. And with 3,100 American lives lost, sectarian violence threatening to spill over into the entire Middle East, and no prospect for a stable, constitutional democracy in Iraq in sight, today we consider this war for not what we wish it were but for what it has so clearly and tragically become, a mistake of historic proportions. As such, I will support this resolution opposing the escalation of this conflict.”