Sherrod Brown: “4 years ago the President of the United States told the Nation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The President…”

“4 years ago the President of the United States told the Nation that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The President told us that Saddam Hussein was aiding and abetting al-Qaida. Now he is telling us that sending more troops into Iraq will lead to some kind of victory in a country torn by civil war and rife with insurgents. The President did not make a credible case in 2002. He has failed to do so again. Before the President sent our troops into battle in 2003, I asked him a series of questions in a letter to the President and in a House resolution, questions about strategy, about reconstruction, and about troop safety. He did not answer those questions then. He still has not answered them. We do not know his definition of victory. We do not know his plan for an exit strategy. We still do not have an answer as to when our troops will have all the body armor they need. We are supposed to take it on trust that sending more of our troops into this chaos will somehow produce stability. Trust needs to be earned. In November, voters in my State of Ohio and voters in Missouri and across the country spoke loudly and clearly that they do not support more of the same when the same simply has not worked. Clearly, the President has not listened to them. It is up to Congress to work together and up to Congress to work on a new direction for Iraq. We are well served to remember that we stand in this room today at the will of the American people.”