Kirk Watson: “For more than 200 years the men and women of the United States military have, through their valiant actions, earned a…”

“For more than 200 years the men and women of the United States military have, through their valiant actions, earned a well-deserved reputation for courage, honor, and sacrifice in defense of liberty. The brave Americans now fighting and dying in Iraq are heirs to a legacy that flows from Lexington and Concord through Normandy, straight up to the present day. They should be very proud of what they have accomplished in Iraq, and they deserve our firm support as they continue to face danger there. I am sure that my colleagues who support H. Res. 557 are sincere in their desire to salute our troops. However, I feel they have committed a grave error by confusing the valor and the sacrifice of our troops with the misguided and misleading policy that sent them to Iraq in the first place. Members of Congress voted in good faith for a resolution on the use of force believing that Iraq was capable of unleashing deadly weapons of mass destruction. We were told that the threat was imminent and could directly impact our Nation's security. Certainly the people of Iraq had suffered from the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein, but this was not the primary reason given for the preemptive strike by the United States. It is good that Congress is on record listing the many atrocities of Saddam Hussein's regime. Saddam was a brutal dictator. That is not debatable. What is debatable is whether our actions in Iraq have improved the security of the United States and our allies.”