John Thune: “last month I came to the Senate floor to express my doubts about the emergency supplemental spending bill put forth by…”

“last month I came to the Senate floor to express my doubts about the emergency supplemental spending bill put forth by the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. The supplemental was, and still is, a flawed bill that will do little to advance the cause of either liberty or victory in Iraq. It is a poorly crafted bill that includes language directing the President to begin a phased withdrawal of American troops, essentially tying the hands of the Commander in Chief, and signaling to our enemies that this is the day on which we will wave the white flag and surrender. Mr. President, the Democrats believe the war in Iraq is a civil war between Sunni and Shia, and that America has no place in their war. I see the war in Iraq as a war between Islamic fascists and everyone else. Contrary to the belief of many of my Democratic colleagues, we are in the middle of that war, be it in Baghdad, New York, Pennsylvania, Bali, London, or Madrid. What my colleagues on the other side of the aisle fail to realize is that diplomacy and the exertion of military force are not mutually exclusive of one another. You can and must have both, and they must be effective. But it is naive to think that you can have diplomacy in a vacuum, especially when you are dealing with a country such as Iran, a country bent on developing nuclear weapons, increasing its ballistic missile capability, and providing weapons and training to our enemies in Iraq.”