Marcy Kaptur: “on March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq against the broadest international opposition I had ever seen.…”

“on March 19, 2003, the United States invaded Iraq against the broadest international opposition I had ever seen. President Bush remarked the coalition invaded; yet of the troops in combat theater, 94 percent were Americans. Then on May 1 of this year, George W. Bush, as Commander in Chief, flew onto the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, after circling 30 minutes outside the San Diego shipyards as the ship approached shore, dressed in a flight suit, to announce that major hostilities were over. The battle of Iraq, he said, is one victory on a war on terror that began on September 11, 2001, and still goes on. That is what the President said. But now 5 months later, more U.S. citizens have died in theater than before the President declared victory. Our National Guard and Reserve forces are experiencing their longest deployments in U.S. history, with the Department of Defense extending their orders every day, and indeed today announcing more call-ups. As of September 9, 2003, according to Department of Defense officials, approximately 148,000 U.S. forces are in Iraq in support of combat operations. There are also 21,700 non-U.S. coalition forces from 29 countries in Iraq. There are 172,362 Guard and Reserve soldiers on active duty during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the majority of those serving in the Army, 108,000. America's Guard and Reserve forces are being sent to Iraq for record-breaking deployments.”