Michael Burgess: “certainly the last 2 weeks we have seen a great deal written and spoken about the conflict in the country of Iraq. The…”

“certainly the last 2 weeks we have seen a great deal written and spoken about the conflict in the country of Iraq. The middle of this month we will see the third popular election held in the country of Iraq this year. Stay the course or pull out now, these seem to be the two recurrent themes debated in this House and on the editorial pages across the country. Our military action was really never popular with the press here at home, and it has been portrayed in the most negative possible fashion for the past 2\1/2\ years. The result, predictably, is declining popular support for military activity in Iraq in this country and the very real possibility that the United States will lose its political will to complete the mission in Iraq. This would be truly tragic as we are so tantalizingly close to success in this effort. I was not a Member of Congress when the vote was taken to provide the President the necessary authority for military action in Iraq. I do believe it was the right decision, and I believe I would have voted affirmatively had I been here. I do not recall ever believing that it would be easy, but I do recall believing that it was justified and necessary.…”