Tom Lantos For President

What follows is the opening statement of Congressman Dr. Tom Lantos at the hearing with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker. I agree entirely with every word.

Two of our nation’s most capable public servants have come before us today to assess the situation in Iraq. General Petraeus, Ambassador Crocker, every single one of us wants you to succeed in your efforts to the maximum possible extent. We admire the heroism and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform and the dedication of our diplomatic corps in Iraq, and we fully understand the terrible burden on their families.

Our witnesses have been sent here this morning to restore credibility to a discredited policy. We and the American people already know that the situation in Iraq is grim, and a growing majority of this Congress and of the American people want our troops out.

In October of 2003 I flew in a helicopter with you, General Petraeus, over Northern Iraq around Mosul. As we passed over the countryside, you pointed out to me several ammunition dumps that had once belonged to the army of Saddam Hussein. “I don’t have enough troops to guard these places,” you said. “Someday, this might come back to haunt us.”

Well, General Petraeus, you saw it coming. Those unguarded ammo dumps became the arsenals of insurgency. Those weapons have been turned against us. How very typical of this war.

The Administration’s myopic policies in Iraq have created a fiasco. Is it any wonder that on the subject of Iraq, more and more Americans have little confidence in this Administration? We can not take ANY of this Administration’s assertions on Iraq at face value anymore, and no amount of charts or statistics will improve its credibility.

This is not a knock on you, General Petraeus, or on you, Ambassador Crocker. But the fact remains, gentlemen, that the Administration has sent you here today to convince the members of these two Committees and the Congress that victory is at hand.

With all due respect to you, I must say … I don’t buy it. And neither does the independent Government Accountability Office or the Commission headed by General Jones. Both recently issued deeply pessimistic reports.

The current escalation in our military presence in Iraq may have produced some tactical successes. But strategically, the escalation has failed. It was intended to buy time for Prime Minister Maliki and the other Iraqi political leaders to find ways to move toward the one thing that may end this terrible civil conflict – and that, of course, is a political settlement. As best we can see, that time has been utterly squandered.

Prime Minister Maliki has not shown the slightest inclination to move in the direction of compromise. Instead of working to build national institutions – a truly Iraqi army, a competent bureaucracy, a non-sectarian police force – Maliki has moved in the opposite direction. The so-called “Unity Accord” announced with such fanfare a couple of weeks ago, is just another in a long list of empty promises.

Instead of acting as a leader for Iraq as a whole, Maliki has functioned as the front man for Shiite partisans. And he has presided over a Shiite coalition that includes some of the most notorious militias, death squads, and sectarian thugs in Iraq.

This is not what the American people had in mind. And when Mr. Maliki states, as he recently did, that if the Americans leave, he can find, quote, “new friends,” we are reminded most forcefully of his and his Party’s intimate ties to Iran.

In his recent visit to Anbar Province, the President made much of our cooperation in the fight against Al Qaeda with Sunni tribal militias. This alliance may in the short run be a positive development – but it also raises some serious and profound questions.

Anbar, of course, includes just five per cent of the population of Iraq – an important five per cent, but still only five. What’s more, by arming, training and funding the Sunni militias in that province, we are working against our own strategy of building national Iraqi institutions.

America should not be in the business of arming, training and funding both sides of a religious civil war in Iraq. Did the Administration learn nothing from our country’s actions in Afghanistan two decades ago, when by supporting Islamist militants against the Soviet Union, we helped pave the way for the rise of the Taliban? Why are we now repeating the short-sighted patterns of the past?

In Iraq today, we are wrecking our military, forcing their families to suffer needlessly, sacrificing the lives of our brave young men and women in uniform. And the enormous financial cost of this war is limiting our ability to address our global security needs, as well as pressing domestic problems such as health care, crumbling infrastructure and public education. The cost of this war in Iraq will be passed along to our grandchildren and beyond.

In the last few days, General Petraeus, media have reported that you are prepared to support a slow drawdown of our forces in Iraq – beginning with a brigade or two, perhaps at the end of this year.
This clearly is nowhere near enough.

We need to send Maliki’s government a strong message, loud and clear. Removing a brigade is nothing but a political whisper – and it is unacceptable to the American people and to the majority of the Congress.

As long as American troops are doing the heavy lifting in Iraq, there is no reason – none at all – for the Iraqis themselves to step up. Military progress without political progress is meaningless.

It is their country – and it is their turn. Prime Minister Maliki and the Iraqi politicians need to know that the free ride is over and that American troops will not be party to their civil war.

The situation in Iraq cries out for a dramatic change of course. We need to get out of Iraq, for that country’s sake and for our own. It is time to go – and to go now.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright

This Week According to BBC News

Ever since it became known that rock stars in Europe die faster than there American counterparts, I've been trying to listen to my mp3 player a little quieter (I don't suppose, by the way, that that research will be of much comfort to the Fossetts.). I'm beginning to wonder why I should bother. I mean, Luciano Pavarotti didn't die from anything like this, and neither did Jane Tomlinson. And anyway, it seems like nothing a good pint of Guinness can't sort out. It's all getting me down a bit. I just try and remember that things could be worse (I haven't, for example, carried out a crime and then left person details on a wall).

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright

Personally, I Need To Free Myself

At the moment, I feel I don't quite know where I am or where I'm supposed to be. I know what I did today, but I don't know what I'll be doing tomorrow. It scares me (just a little bit), but I think that's what I want. I don't want to live in anything like a routine -- not just at the moment, anyway. I'm moving to Liverpool soon, and I think that's going to be situation where everyday is different. Everyday will (hopefully) bring with it new challenges and new pleasures, new emotions and new feelings. I want to live closer to the realm of spontaneity than to the realm of routine.

I think this can only be achieved by the acceptance that any coercive lifestyle must have a certain amount of routine to it. I'm a unique person and I'm coming to terms with that by forging a closer perspective with bohemianism. I'm going to try and govern the next few weeks of my life by some famous lyrics:

We're not bad people,
We're not dirty we're not mean,
We love everybody but we do as we please,
We're always happy,
Life's for livin', yeah, that's our philosophy.

Where do I want to be in five years time?

I don't know. I want to have had as many positive, worldly, experiences as possible. If, in five years time I've achieved a good degree, an M.A. (as I want to do) and I have a healthy bank balance, then that's alright. There's nothing wrong with that. But if, in five years time, I've got a degree, and an M.A., but I have less than no money because I went round New York on a budget three week trip and saw baseball in Yankee stadium and a play on Broadway and got absolutely completely lost on the subway system and ended up walking thirty blocks in the pouring New York rain with no coat, then I would prefer the latter of the two.

I'm a free spirit, and this summer I failed my goal of making it back to New York in the warm weather. I paid over £1,000 to have work done on my teeth. This hasn't been a wasted experience. I found out being in debt isn't that bigger problem. Well, not when you're a student. And I suppose that's why I want to make the most of the forthcoming 12 months.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright

Obituary: Jane Tomlinson

Though terminally-ill with cancer, Jane Tomlinson raised more than £1.5 million for charity by running in three London Marathons, several triathlons and The Great North Run. Together with her brother she also cycled from John O'Groats to Land's End and from Rome to Leeds.

Jane Tomlinson's life changed forever when, in 1991, she was first diagnosed as having breast cancer. Though she underwent a mastectomy, the cancer returned and in 2000 she was told that it was terminal. Even though her cancer was incurable, Jane Tomlinson refused to give in, preferring instead to undertake a series of challenges which would normally tax even the most physically fit person.

2002 saw the mother of three, from Rothwell near Leeds, complete three major sporting events. Even though she was in great pain - especially in her bones, neck, hips, back and shoulders - she took part in the London Marathon in April, a triathlon in August and, along with her husband, the Great North Run in October. After the Great North Run, Jane Tomlinson announced that she would not be running any more races. She said that she would be concentrating on her medical treatment, and spending time with her husband Mike and children Suzanne, Rebecca and Steven. But, in March 2003, she set out, together with her brother Luke, on a 1060 mile bike ride from John O'Groats to Land's End, stopping twice en route to receive chemotherapy. Arriving at the finish, Jane Tomlinson could not contain her delight. It has been brilliant, " she said. "I am absolutely thrilled. I can't believe we are actually here. There have been some tricky moments on the way but we have just enjoyed it all."

And, almost unbelievably, days after finishing the journey, she completed a second London Marathon before returning to work as a paediatric radiographer. But more was to come. She completed the gruelling UK Half Ironman triathlon competition in the autumn before collecting her MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in October. All in all, she raised more than £1.5 million for Cancer Research UK and other charities. In recognition of her efforts, the laboratory at Cancer Research UK's Clinical Centre at St James's Hospital in Leeds, was re-named the Jane Tomlinson Laboratory in May 2003. Speaking at the time, Jane Tomlinson said, "I know that my situation means that there is little to benefit me from research, but I thought if I could raise some money, I could help other people in the future. "It's great to know that all this research is taking place in my home city and I am especially pleased to be associated with this particular lab." Mrs Tomlinson also won a number of high profile awards, including The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year's Helen Rollason Award. She was also voted the UK's most inspirational woman in 2003. In November 2004, she became the only cancer patient to complete a full Ironman triathlon, a daunting feat comprising a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile cycle ride followed by a 26 mile marathon. And in the summer of 2006, she crossed the United States, from San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge to Brooklyn Bridge in New York City. On finishing the ride, she admitted, "I thought it was going to be a bit of an adventure but it turned out to be a bit of an ordeal." But, despite her smiles at the end of her journey, the mammoth feat - 63 days on a bike, covering 3,700 miles - had left her seriously ill. She was also disappointed that a lack of interest from the US media meant she only raised £100,000, well short of her expectations. Early in 2007 it was announced that Jane was now too ill to undertake any further challenges but she did organise and wave off a 10km road race in Leeds. She was awarded the CBE in the Queen's Birthday honours in June 2007. Jane Tomlinson always looked upon herself as just an ordinary woman with cancer but her extraordinary tenacity touched the lives of people around the world.

Yours, wherever you may be,
Daniel C. Wright