Marsha Blackburn: “For decades, America and free countries in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia have been the targets of terrorism…”

“For decades, America and free countries in Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia have been the targets of terrorism, terrorism that originated in the Middle East and has been if not openly supported by countries there then at the very least overlooked by these nations. On September 11, we decided that periodic attacks like the bombing of the Pan Am Flight 103, the USS Cole, Khobar Towers, the first World Trade Center bombing, we decided that that had to stop. We decided the only way to end these attacks was going into the Middle East and let it be known that we would no longer tolerate regimes that encouraged terrorism and shunned the rules most in the civilized world choose to abide by. That was the right decision then. It remains the right decision today. ____________________”