David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, we hear so many voices in this country and in this Chamber who are willing to fight to the last drop of…”

“Mr. Speaker, we hear so many voices in this country and in this Chamber who are willing to fight to the last drop of someone else's blood. Those of us who are supporting this resolution today are being accused of being for 'precipitous withdrawal.' I hardly think that seeing this war continue for another 14 months constitutes precipitous withdrawal. Mr. Speaker, it is 56 months since the United States first launched its attack against Iraq. It is 4 rac{1}{2} years since the President appeared before his 'Mission Accomplished' banner on that carrier. It is almost 5 years since the administration ignored the advice of General Shinseki. It is 2 rac{1}{2} years since Vice President Cheney said that he thought the insurgency was in its last throes. Since that time, we have had 3,800 Americans killed and 28,000 wounded. We have had 8,000 Iraqi military personal killed and 38,000 civilians killed. We have had 4 million Iraqis displaced. 2.3 million of them have been displaced internally in the country. One and a half million have fled to Syria, 1 million to other countries. Not a pretty picture. This war is the most colossal blunder in modern U.S. history. It is a mistake that has shattered our influence in the region, and it has made the one country in the region that we did not want to see strengthened, Iran, it has made them infinitely stronger in that region.”