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We Just Marched In (So We Can
Just March Out)
Hon. Ron Paul Of Texas
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
04/24/07 "ICH" ----- WASHINGTON: April 17, 2007 --- -
All the reasons given to justify a preemptive strike against
Iraq were wrong. Congress and the American people were misled.
Support for the war came from various special interests that had
agitated for an invasion of Iraq since 1998. The Iraq Liberation
Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President
Clinton, stated that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was official
U.S. policy. This policy was carried out in 2003.
Congress failed miserably in meeting its crucial obligations as
the branch of government charged with deciding whether to
declare war. It wrongly and unconstitutionally transferred this
power to the president, and the president did not hesitate to
use it.
Although it is clear there was no cause for war, we just marched
in. Our leaders deceived themselves and the public with
assurances that the war was righteous and would be over quickly.
Their justifications were false, and they failed to grasp even
basic facts about the chaotic political and religious history of
the region.
Congress bears the greater blame for this fiasco. It reneged on
its responsibility to declare or not declare war. It transferred
this decision-making power to the executive branch, and gave
open sanction to anything the president did. In fact the
founders diligently tried to prevent the executive from
possessing this power, granting it to Congress alone in Article
1 Section 8 of the Constitution.
Today just about everyone acknowledges the war has gone badly,
and 70% of the American people want it to end. Our national
defense is weakened, the financial costs continue to drain us,
our allies have deserted us, and our enemies are multiplying –
not to mention the tragic toll of death and injury suffered by
American forces.
Iraq is a mess, and we urgently need a new direction- but our
leaders offer only hand wringing and platitudes. They have no
clear-cut ideas to end the suffering and war. Even the most
ardent war hawks cannot begin to define victory in Iraq.
As an Air Force officer serving from 1963-1968, I heard the same
agonizing pleas from the American people. These pleas were met
with the same excuses about why we could not change a deeply
flawed policy and rethink the war in Vietnam. That bloody
conflict, also undeclared and unconstitutional, seems to have
taught us little despite the horrific costs.
Once again, though everyone now accepts that the original
justifications for invading Iraq were not legitimate, we are
given excuses for not leaving. We flaunt our power by building
permanent military bases and an enormous billion-dollar embassy,
yet claim we have no plans to stay in Iraq permanently.
Assurances that our presence in Iraq has nothing to do with oil
are not believed in the Middle East.
The argument for staying- to prevent civil war and bring
stability to the region- logically falls on deaf ears.
If the justifications for war were wrong;
If the war is going badly;
If we can’t afford the costs, both human and economic;
If civil war and chaos have resulted from our occupation;
If the reasons for staying are no more credible than the reasons
for going;
THEN…..
Why the dilemma? The American people have spoken, and continue
to speak out, against this war. So why not end it? How do we end
it? Why not exactly the way we went in? We just marched in, and
we can just march out.
More good things may come of it than anyone can imagine.
Consider our relationship with Vietnam, now our friendly trading
partner. Certainly we are doing better with her than when we
tried to impose our will by force. It is time to march out of
Iraq and march home.
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