We'll have a point by point reply up shortly, as well as a scanned image of the letter to catch any OCR errors.
Dear Patrick:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the ongoing pacification and reconstruction of Iraq, and specifically, the recent incidents of prisoner abuse at the Abu Ghraib detention facility. I appreciate your opinions on this matter.
As President Bush has stated, the abuse of Iraqi prisoners is abhorrent and deserves to be punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. I commend the Secretary of the Army and the Department of Defense for their speedy investigation of this incident, and their follow-up administrative review of prisoner protocol. From all the many young men and women I have spoken with in the military, this kind of behavior is clearly the exception, not the rule. Our mission is to aid the Iraqi people.
However, we must not allow this incident to overshadow the progress being made on a daily basis in Iraq. There are those in the Arab world and elsewhere who are constantly on the lookout for signs of American weakness in the war on terror.
Even in America, there are some who seek less to punish the offenders than to exploit this incident to discredit the war and advance their own political agenda. These actions only serve to further harm our relations with the Iraqi people, and endanger the lives of our soldiers trying to keep the peace.
In light of this setback, we must, as a nation, push forward to establish a free and democratic Iraq.
In more general terms, the liberation of Iraq has come at a significant cost, both in American and Iraqi lives. The mission to rout out enemy elements in Iraqi society is not yet over. As we approach the pre-determined transfer of power date of June 30, the date when the Coalition Provisional Authority is to turn over limited control to the interim Iraqi governing council, Coalition forces outside the Iraqi city of Fallujah continue to face opposition from radicals, Saddam loyalists, and foreign terrorist fighters.
However, progress and reconstruction is steady, and continues despite these remaining violent elements in Iraq. Schools are being rebuilt, water supplies purified and delivered. Energy is reaching millions of households. The free press is flourishing, and millions of Iraqis are aiding recovery by engaging in their fledgling commercial society. Civil liberties, virtually unknown under Saddam Hussein's brutal regime, are being experienced by the Iraqi people for the first time.
Now, more than ever, I believe in the just nature of our mission in Iraq. The construction of a free and democratic society, where previously no freedom existed, is our singular goal; self-determination the precedent we are working to establish. Not without setbacks, Iraq and the larger war on terrorism have the potential to result in more peace, freedom and security in the Middle East and around the world.
Some in the United States have questioned exactly what is the cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Whether or not their questions are politically motivated, they do deserve answers. Estimated spending on Operation Iraqi Freedom totals about 1% of the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - about same as Gulf War in 1990. In comparison to past wars, Vietnam was 12% of GDP, Korea was 15% of GDP and WWII was 130% of GDP. Sensationalist media accounts of soldiers killed in Iraq have led some to make irresponsible comparisons between the death toll in Iraq and that of the Vietnam War. To clarify this misconception, 726 American armed forces have died in Iraq since the beginning of combat operations in March 2003, with over 200 of those listed as non-hostile, or accidental deaths. By comparison, 58,000 soldiers died in Vietnam.
Others have asked whether or not Operation Iraqi Freedom was justified given the discovery that Saddam did not posses weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The question is erroneous. American intelligence thought Saddam had WMD. French, British and Italian intelligence thought Saddam had WMD. We now know that even Saddam thought he was developing WMD, and was hopelessly deceived by his own scientists. In the words of President Bush, Saddam Hussein was a "grave and gathering danger" to the world. Hindsight does not change this fact, nor the urgency of our response.
As the war on terrorism progresses the enemies of freedom are slowly but surely losing ground. Afghanistan and Iraq were opening acts, and still require our close attention. But the real issue is whether America will continue to demonstrate our commitment to the longer war. Can we continue to sustain pre-emptive actions against terrorists across nation-state boundaries? Or will we fall victim to appeasement, and standby until the next 9/11?
Again, thank you for contacting me on this subject. Should you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me in the future.
Sincerely,
WALLY HERGER Member of Congress
No comments:
Post a Comment