Up Leslie Burg, Newton's Iraq Resolution Bill Moyers, Restoring The Public Trust Bill Moyers June 4, 2003 Howard Zinn at Spelman College Bill Moyers May 15, 2005 Bill Moyers December 1, 2004 Sen Byrd Oct 17, 2003 Sen Byrd April 7, 2004 MP George Galloway Senate Testimony MP George Galloway interview by Amy Goodman Al Gore Nov 29 ,2003 Kennedy Oct 16, 2003 Kennedy Jan 14, 2004 Kennedy March 5, 2004 Kennedy: America's Future in Iraq Mark Dayton Opposing Ms. Rice Martin Luther King: Beyond Vietnam Iraq Veterans Against the War Howard Zinn at Spelman College |
Senate Floor Remarks
Remarks by U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd on Final Passage of Iraq
Supplemental Appropriations Bill
Friday 17 October 2003
Mr.
President, the Emperor has no clothes. This entire adventure in Iraq
has been based on propaganda and manipulation. Eighty-seven billion
dollars is too much to pay for the continuation of a war based on
falsehoods.
In 1837,
Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen, wrote a wonderful fairy tale which
he titled The Emperor's New Clothes. It may be the very first example of the
power of political correctness. It is the story of the Ruler of a distant
land who was so enamored of his appearance and his clothing that he had a
different suit for every hour of the day.
One day two
rogues arrived in town, claiming to be gifted weavers. They convinced the
Emperor that they could weave the most wonderful cloth, which had a magical
property. The clothes were only visible to those who were completely pure in
heart and spirit.
The Emperor was
impressed and ordered the weavers to begin work immediately. The rogues, who
had a deep understanding of human nature, began to feign work on empty
looms.
Minister after
minister went to view the new clothes and all came back exhorting the beauty
of the cloth on the looms even though none of them could see a thing.
Finally a grand
procession was planned for the Emperor to display his new finery. The
Emperor went to view his clothes and was shocked to see absolutely nothing,
but he pretended to admire the fabulous cloth, inspect the clothes with awe,
and, after disrobing, go through the motions of carefully putting on a suit
of the new garments.
Under a royal
canopy the Emperor appeared to the admiring throng of his people - - all of
whom cheered and clapped because they all knew the rogue weavers' tale and
did not want to be seen as less than pure of heart.
But, the bubble
burst when an innocent child loudly exclaimed, for the whole kingdom to
hear, that the Emperor had nothing on at all. He had no clothes. That tale
seems to me very like the way this nation was led to war.
We were told that
we were threatened by weapons of massestruction in Iraq, but they have not
been seen.
We were told that
the throngs of Iraqi's would welcome our troops with flowers, but no throngs
or flowers appeared.
We were led to
believe that Saddam Hussein was connected to the attack on the Twin Towers
and the Pentagon, but no evidence has ever been produced.
We were told in
16 words that Saddam Hussein tried to buy "yellow cake" from Africa for
production of nuclear weapons, but the story has turned into empty air.
We were
frightened with visions of mushroom clouds, but they turned out to be only
vapors of the mind.
We were told that
major combat was over but 101 [as of October 17] Americans have died in
combat since that proclamation from the deck of an aircraft carrier by our
very own Emperor in his new clothes.
Our emperor says
that we are not occupiers, yet we show no inclination to relinquish the
country of Iraq to its people.
Those who have
dared to expose the nakedness of the Administration's policies in Iraq have
been subjected to scorn. Those who have noticed the elephant in the room --
that is, the fact that this war was based on falsehoods - have had our
patriotism questioned. Those who have spoken aloud the thought shared by
hundreds of thousands of military families across this country, that our
troops should return quickly and safely from the dangers half a world away,
have been accused of cowardice. We have then seen the untruths, the
dissembling, the fabrication, the misleading inferences surrounding this
rush to war in Iraq wrapped quickly in the flag.
The right to ask
questions, debate, and dissent is under attack. The drums of war are beaten
ever louder in an attempt to drown out those who speak of our predicament in
stark terms.
Even in the
Senate, our history and tradition of being the world's greatest deliberative
body is being snubbed. This huge spending bill has been rushed through this
chamber in just one month. There were just three open hearings by the Senate
Appropriations Committee on $87 billion, without a single outside witness
called to challenge the Administration's line.
Ambassador Bremer
went so far as to refuse to return to the appropriations Committee to answer
additional questions because, and I quote: "I don't have time. I'm
completely booked, and I have to get back to Baghdad to my duties."
Despite this
callous stiff-arm of the Senate and its duties to ask questions in order to
represent the American people, few dared to voice their opposition to
rushing this bill through these halls of Congress. Perhaps they were
intimidated by the false claims that our troops are in immediate need of
more funds.
But the time has
come for the sheep-like political correctness which has cowed members of
this Senate to come to an end.
Mr. President,
the Emperor has no clothes. This entire adventure in Iraq has been based on
propaganda and manipulation. Eighty-seven billion dollars is too much to pay
for the continuation of a war based on falsehoods.
Mr. President, taking the nation to war based on misleading rhetoric and
hyped intelligence is a travesty and a tragedy. It is the most cynical of
all cynical acts. It is dangerous to manipulate the truth. It is dangerous
because once having lied, it is difficult to ever be believed again. Having
misled the American people and stampeded them to war, this Administration
must now attempt to sustain a policy predicated on falsehoods. The President
asks for billions from those same citizens
who know that they were misled about the need to go to war. We misinformed
and insulted our friends and allies and now this Administration is having
more than a little trouble getting help from the international community. It
is perilous to mislead.
The single-minded
obsession of this Administration to now make sense of the chaos in Iraq, and
the continuing propaganda which emanates from the White House painting Iraq
as the geographical center of terrorism is distracting our attention from
Afghanistan and the 60 other countries in the world where terrorists hide.
It is sapping resources which could be used to make us safer from terrorists
on our own shores. The body armor for our own citizens still has many, many
chinks. Have we forgotten that the most horrific terror attacks in history
occurred right here at home!! Yet, this Administration turns back money for
homeland security, while the President pours billions into security for
Iraq. I am powerless to understand or explain such a policy.
I have tried
mightily to improve this bill. I twice tried to separate the reconstruction
money in this bill, so that those dollars could be considered separately
from the military spending. I offered an amendment to force the
Administration to craft a plan to get other nations to assist the troops and
formulate a plan to get the U.N. in, and the U.S. out, of Iraq. Twice I
tried to rid the bill of expansive, flexible authorities that turn this $87
billion into a blank check. The American people should understand that we
provide more foreign aid
for Iraq in this bill, $20.3 billion, than we provide for the rest of the
entire world! I attempted to remove from this bill billions in wasteful
programs and divert those funds to better use. But, at every turn, my
efforts were thwarted by the vapid argument that we must all support the
requests of the Commander in Chief.
I cannot stand by
and continue to watch our grandchildren become increasingly burdened by the
billions that fly out of the Treasury for a war and a policy based largely
on propaganda and prevarication. We are borrowing $87 billion to finance
this adventure in Iraq. The President is asking this Senate to pay for this
war with increased debt, a debt that will have to be paid by our children
and by those same troops that are currently fighting this war. I cannot
support outlandish tax cuts that plunge our country into potentially
disastrous debt while our troops are fighting and dying in a war that the
White House chose to begin.
I cannot support
the continuation of a policy that unwisely ties down 150,000 American troops
for the foreseeable future, with no end in sight.
I cannot support
a President who refuses to authorize the reasonable change in course that
would bring traditional allies to our side in Iraq.
I cannot support
the politics of zeal and "might makes right" that created the new American
arrogance and unilateralism which passes for foreign policy in this
Administration.
I cannot support
this foolish manifestation of the dangerous and destabilizing doctrine of
preemption that changes the image of America into that of a reckless bully.
Mr. President,
the emperor has no clothes. And our former allies around the world were the
first to loudly observe it.
I shall vote
against this bill because I cannot support a policy based on prevarication.
I cannot support doling out 87 billion of our hard-earned tax dollars when I
have so many doubts about the wisdom of its use.
Mr. President, I
began my remarks with a fairy tale. I shall close my remarks with a horror
story, in the form of a quote from the book Nuremberg Diaries, written by
G.M. Gilbert, in which the author interviews Hermann Goering.
Mr.
President, I began my remarks with a fairy tale. I shall close my
remarks with a horror story, in the form of a quote from the book Nuremberg
Diaries, written by G.M. Gilbert, in which the author interviews Hermann
Goering.
"We got around to the subject
of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that
the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and
destruction.
". . . But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the
policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it
is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist
dictatorship.
"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have
some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the
United States only Congress can declare wars."
"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can
always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have
to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for
lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way
in any country." |