Erecting An Edifice For Future World Peace CONGRESSMAN ADAM B. SCHIFF OF CALIFORNIA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 02, 2003 Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, this afternoon I want to recognize the patriotism of our men and women of the Armed Forces who, halfway around the world in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and elsewhere, are in harm's way. They are brave, they care deeply about this country, so deeply they would lay down their lives for it, and have. This is worth our reflection as we gather here in the comfort of this Chamber, air-conditioned on a hot day. We should take a moment to think about our troops, to stand in their boots, and to give our thanks. Our soldiers deserve our unqualified support, and in Congress we must do everything we can to make sure they have it, whatever they need to do their job, to do it quickly, to do it with a minimum loss of life, and to come home safely. Whether they are in Basra, Baghdad, Bagram, or Afghanistan, we stand by our troops. War is cruel. Innocent lives are lost, families are devastated. We cannot but turn on the television to see graphically the horrors of war; some of our soldiers dying or dead, the loss of innocent civilian lives, some by errant bombs, others by the deliberate murder of Saddam's regime as it fired on those in the street. What we do not often recognize, because it is not thrust in our living rooms or our consciousness, is another terrible truth that peace, too, can be cruel. The peace of Rwanda, where millions died as the world watched. The peace of Kosovo, where tens of thousands were ethnically cleansed before we acted without the approval of the United Nations. And the peace of Baghdad, too, was cruel. The peace of torture and rape, of starvation and repression, of a failed sanctions regime that Hussein used cynically to kill his own people. That, too, is cruel. And lastly, the peace of September 10 was cruel, holding the promise of a long and precious life for 3,000 Americans who would not live out the week. Americans who oppose the war have many important points to make but must resist the temptation to merely attack the administration uncritically or nonconstructively, or to defend in any manner the indefensible regime of Saddam Hussein. The failure to disarm Iraq peacefully, notwithstanding 17 resolutions of the United Nations, was not alone the United States' responsibility. It was a failure of the world body, of the United Nations, of the collective security of mankind. Despite the intoxicating simplicity of the argument, the war in Iraq is not about American desire for oil, though our dependence on it is far too great. It is not about contracts for the French, although contracts they have. And it is not about debt to the Russians, although billions they are owed. Rather, it is about the post-Cold War failure to erect an edifice upon which the peace of the world can be built. And this problem, without our genuine reflection and determined effort, if left unattended and ignored, if lost in the dilution of a simpler answer, may mean that Iraq is only the second in a long line of future conflicts. When the war is over, more hard work lies ahead. We must not only rebuild the Nation of Iraq for the Iraqi people, but we must rebuild the institutions of the world community which have been devastated by the last few months of fractious debate at the United Nations. These two tasks, to restore Iraq and to restore the collective security apparatus of the world, must go hand in hand. Indeed, we need the one to help repair the other. The United Nations must play the pivotal role in the provision of food and medicine to the Iraqi people and assist in the administration of Iraq until that troubled land becomes a self-governing nation. Many have argued that democracy is incompatible with the traditions and tribal rivalries of the Iraqi people, or that a nation drawn artificially together on a map must tear if not held together by the noxious glue of tyranny. We must not have such low aspirations for the Iraqi people who have great talents that have not been allowed to flourish, and we must never indulge in the prejudice that any people are less capable, less suited, or less deserving of democracy. Democracy is the institutional reflection of the God-given rights of liberty, belief, and expression. Democracy must be nurtured beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. We must be unstinting in our support for democratic movements in authoritarian nations. Democracy must come not only to our adversaries but to our allies as well, to the Saudis, to the Egyptians, and to Jordan. We must work to open these closed societies and closed economies to free the creative tall talents of their peoples, to lift the standard of living and expose the germ of terrorism to the cleansing power of opportunity.