Committee on International Relations
NEWS ADVISORY
Committee on International RelationsU.S. House of Representatives
Henry Hyde (R-IL), Chairman
Contact: (202) 225-5021
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
For IMMEDIATE Release
Hyde Comments on Pelosi’s Remarks Concerning War on Terror
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) nationally televised statement on last Sunday’s “60 Minutes” that, “If the president wants to say the war in Iraq is part of the war on terror, he’s not right. . . . The war on terror is the war in Afghanistan,” U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), Chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, made the following comments:
The War on Terror is a global war. The victims of this war, in America, England, Spain, and Indonesia, recognize terrorism’s global impact. The sources are similarly widespread. It would be a great relief if we could fight our enemy’s global network in the relatively small area of Afghanistan. If all those who would harm us were centered there, we could focus on Afghanistan, and protecting the country from threats would be easy. But terrorists aren’t confined by Afghanistan’s porous borders. A failure to recognize this could be disastrous to American security.
Terrorism grows where order stops. In Iraq today, there are terrorists plotting to harm America and our allies. Until the nascent, democratically-elected government of Iraq is stable, these plots will move forward unimpeded. The insurgent factions warring to destabilize Iraq will not unite harmoniously in search of peace upon a U.S. departure. It is only the U.S. presence in Iraq that prevents chaos from taking complete control of that country. A free and stable Iraq will be a major U.S. victory in the War on Terror.
The War on Terror is a global war. The victims of this war, in America, England, Spain, and Indonesia, recognize terrorism’s global impact. The sources are similarly widespread. It would be a great relief if we could fight our enemy’s global network in the relatively small area of Afghanistan. If all those who would harm us were centered there, we could focus on Afghanistan, and protecting the country from threats would be easy. But terrorists aren’t confined by Afghanistan’s porous borders. A failure to recognize this could be disastrous to American security.
Terrorism grows where order stops. In Iraq today, there are terrorists plotting to harm America and our allies. Until the nascent, democratically-elected government of Iraq is stable, these plots will move forward unimpeded. The insurgent factions warring to destabilize Iraq will not unite harmoniously in search of peace upon a U.S. departure. It is only the U.S. presence in Iraq that prevents chaos from taking complete control of that country. A free and stable Iraq will be a major U.S. victory in the War on Terror.
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