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CHAMBLISS HIGHLIGHTS EVENTS IN ONGOING WAR ON TERRORISM
July 12, 2006
“While we continue to identify, capture, and kill terrorists and prevent them from turning Iraq’s fragile democracy into a lawless training ground from which they can launch attacks against our homeland and against their own peaceful citizens, we must not forget that this is indeed a global war on terrorism.”
-- U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, today took to the Senate floor to highlight ongoing efforts and recent world events related to the War on Terrorism.
Mr. President:
I rise this morning to address America’s on-going efforts in Iraq and the larger war against terrorism. Our nation continues its steadfast resolve to bring security and prosperity to the Iraqi people, and President Bush is leading that effort with the help of this Congress and the American people. Amidst press reports which are generally not reflective of the most important things going on in Iraq, I wanted to review some recent successes that highlight the progress we are making.
Brig. General Kurt Cichowski, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategy, Plans and Assessments of the Multi-National Force-Iraq recently announced that the Iraqi Security forces will assume full control of the southern Iraqi province of Muthanna. According to General Cichowski, “The transfer of security responsibility from US forces to the Iraqi Security Forces clearly demonstrates an Iraqi success and signifies a tangible beginning to a new phase in the history of this nation.” Muthanna is the first of Iraq’s 18 provinces to be fully transferred from Coalition to Iraqi Security Forces control. This latest move is the result of a joint evaluation and collaboration between the provincial governor and the Coalition ground commander and clearly represents another turning-point in our efforts in Iraq.
Further, recent successes in joint raid operations dramatically demonstrate the real progress we are making on the ground against the insurgents. This past Friday, joint raids were conducted on a building which had been used as a base of operation by Abu Deraa, a top commander of the Shiite militia. The Department of Defense reported the killing or wounding of between 30 to 40 militia gunmen and the capture of a high level militia commander. That same day, Iraqi police officers captured yet another top insurgent commander who is believed to have been involved in smuggling weapons, bankrolling terrorists, and launching attacks against American troops. This is the kind of progress we are making which, for whatever reason, the media chooses not to focus on.
Only yesterday, Iraqi Ambassador Khalilzad, addressing the Center for Strategic and International Relations here in Washington, spoke with justifiable pride and confidence concerning Iraq’s future and its ability to meet the challenges of governing a previously divided nation:
“Today,” he said, “Sunni Arabs are full participants in the political process, with their representation in the national assembly now proportional to their share of the population… they have largely come to see the United States as an honest broker in helping Iraq’s communities come together around a process and a plan to stabilize the country.”
He also noted that “al-Qaeda in Iraq has been significantly weakened during the past year...” which has coincided with “the inauguration of Iraq’s first ever government of national unity… and the recent announcement by Prime Minister Maliki of his government’s National Reconciliation and Dialogue Project.”
The Ambassador also reported that:
“[a] chasm has been developing between al-Qaeda and those Sunni Arabs in Iraq who have been part of the armed opposition. Previously, many Sunni Arab insurgents saw al Qaeda’s operations as beneficial for their own cause. Now, the Sunni Arabs increasingly understand that the terrorists are not interested in the future of Iraq and that al-Qaeda’s leaders see Iraqis as cannon fodder in an effort to instigate a war of civilizations. More and more, Iraqi Sunni Arab insurgents reject this cynical game. Osama bin Laden’s specific denunciation of Sunni Arab political leaders, such as Vice President Tareq Hashami, and recently captured documents indicate that al-Qaeda’s leadership knows that they are losing ground as a result of Iraq’s reconciliation process. They know that if reconciliation goes further and begins to hollow out the Sunni Arab armed opposition, it is a mortal threat to their terrorist movement.”
Let me say this about Ambassador Khalilzad. Having met with the Ambassador each time I was there plus having met with him previously when I was in Afghanistan and on other occasions when he was here, this man is extremely well-respected by the Iraqis. He is the right man in the right place to help improve America’s image and to continue the dialogue with the Iraqis to make sure we move that country on a forward and democratic process.
Some would have us ignore these successes, or simply never hear of them. Some would have us abandon these noble efforts and those of the well over 100,000 American service members working every day to bring about a peaceful Iraq. But the cost of doing so is too high, the consequences too horrible. We simply cannot permit the villainous hand of terrorism to strangle America’s resolve and snuff out the coalition and Iraqi successes which are bringing hope to the hopeless and victory to the previously subjugated peoples of Iraq.
Iraq remains absolutely central to the war on terror. On June 7, 2006, American and Coalition forces dealt a powerful blow to the terrorists when they killed the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The elimination of al-Zarqawi, who had claimed responsibility for attacks on US citizens since 2002 is a major victory in our Global War on Terrorism as our counterterrorism forces, together with our intelligence community, demonstrated our tenacity, our capabilities, and our intent to winning this war on terror.
While we continue to identify, capture, and kill terrorists and prevent them from turning Iraq’s fragile democracy into a lawless training ground from which they can launch attacks against our homeland and against their own peaceful citizens, we must not forget that this is indeed a global war on terrorism. Only yesterday did the world witness a tragic terrorist event in the world’s largest democracy—India—where seven nearly simultaneous bombings killed more that 100 innocent people and injured hundreds more on the Mumbai commuter rail. This heinous act of terrorism is sadly too familiar; it was just one year ago that al-Qaeda perpetrated the synchronized bombings in London, killing over 50 people and wounding hundreds more.
Terrorists are still seeking to kill Americans in similar attacks here, on our own soil. Just last week, we learned that the FBI, working together with their counterparts in Lebanon, arrested an individual in a plot to detonate explosives in the Holland Tunnel in New York City. Earlier this month, the FBI arrested seven suspects of an al-Qaeda-inspired group in Miami for their efforts to “wage jihad” against Americans and for plotting to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois. Even in my home state of Georgia, alleged terrorists, inspired by al-Qaeda’s violent ideology, in collaboration with their counterparts in Canada, Europe, and South Asia, were planning attacks here in the United States.
Despite these and other activities to attack our homeland, there has not been a single terrorist event on US soil since September 11, 2001. This is due to this Administration’s policy of taking the fight to the terrorists, denying them sanctuary in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere, working closely with our foreign partners, and strengthening our nation’s counterterrorism capabilities.
The world changed on September 11, 2001, demonstrating that it's vitally important that the President of the United States has the power and authority to protect the American people from future acts of terrorism. Programs such as the Terrorist Surveillance Program or the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program which, based on intelligence leads, carefully targets terrorist communications or financial transactions, are essential tools in the war on terror. If there are people talking or communicating with terrorists, plotting against Americans, or sending money to help al Qaeda, then we need to know about it. We know too well that terrorists are able to sneak into a country and hide among law-abiding citizens. Too often, we have witnessed the horror they cause in places such as Iraq, Tel Aviv, Madrid, London, and unfortunately, here in the United States. It is abundantly clear that these types of important programs are necessary to address the previous flaws in our early warning system that allowed at least two of the September 11th murderers to live among us. These vital programs make it more likely that terrorists will be identified and located in time to prevent another disaster.
These efforts and capabilities are winning the war on terrorism and keeping Americans safe. Unfortunately, unauthorized disclosures of some of these most sensitive investigations and programs are undermining our abilities and providing vital information to those killers who continuously seek to do us harm. The disclosure of our intelligence operations places our personnel, sources, and methods at risk. These operations are our first line of national security defense. The government classifies information regarding our intelligence activities for a reason. When terrorists know how we are tracking them they change the way they operate making it harder to catch them and that makes this nation less safe.
Osama bin Laden was clear in his intent to continue to wage jihad against America and peace loving people worldwide when he said in his recent videotaped message, released on June 30, 2006: "We will continue to fight you and your allies everywhere, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan to run down your resources and kill your men until you return defeated to your nation."
As bin Laden makes clear, al-Qaeda is still seeking to kill Americans and innocent people worldwide, and they are spreading their message of hate and murder through the media and internet. But America will not be defeated—this is a war that we cannot and will not loose. We must put an end to the unauthorized leaks of sensitive information that aids our enemies in their plans to kill Americans and avoid capture. We must also continue to improve our counterterrorism efforts, finding new ways to disrupt enemy planning, eliminate terrorists from the battlefield, and strengthen collaboration within our intelligence, defense, and homeland security organizations.
Our Intelligence Community, the Department of Defense, and law enforcement organizations across this nation remain vigilant, and we owe our support and a debt of gratitude to these dedicated men and women who are on the front line of the Global War on Terror. We are indeed winning, but as it has been pointed out, this is a long war. The President is leading that effort, with the help of this Congress, and together we are keeping Americans safe.
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