mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ we have nearli finish thi littl exhibit __PUNCT__ which wa stage __PUNCT__ i assum __PUNCT__ for the benefit of a briefli amus press corp and in defer to polit activist oppos to the war who have come to expect from congress such gestur __PUNCT__ empti though thei mai be __PUNCT__ as proof that the major in the senat ha heard their demand for action to end the war in iraq __PUNCT__
the outcom of thi debat __PUNCT__ the vote we ar about to take __PUNCT__ ha never been in doubt to a singl member of thi bodi __PUNCT__
and to state the obviou __PUNCT__ noth we have done for the last twenti __PUNCT__ four hour will have chang ani fact on the ground in iraq or made the outcom of the war ani more or less import to the secur of our countri __PUNCT__
the stake in thi war remain as high todai as thei were yesterdai __PUNCT__ the consequ of an american defeat ar just as grave __PUNCT__ the cost of success just as dear __PUNCT__
no battl will have been won or lost __PUNCT__ no enemi will have been captur or kill __PUNCT__ no ground will have been taken or surrend __PUNCT__ no soldier will have surviv or been wound __PUNCT__ di or come home becaus we spent an entir night deliv our poll __PUNCT__ test messag point __PUNCT__ spin our soundbit __PUNCT__ argu with each other __PUNCT__ and substitut our amateur theatric for statesmanship __PUNCT__
all we have achiev ar remark similar newspap account of our inflat sens of the drama of thi displai and our own temporari physic fatigu __PUNCT__
tomorrow the press will move on to other thing and we will be better rest __PUNCT__
but noth els will have chang __PUNCT__
in iraq __PUNCT__ american soldier __PUNCT__ marin __PUNCT__ sailor and airmen ar still fight brave and tenaci in battl that ar as danger __PUNCT__ difficult and consequenti as the great battl of our arm forc __PUNCT__ stori past __PUNCT__
our enemi will still be intent on defeat us __PUNCT__ and us our defeat to encourag their follow in the jihad thei wage against us __PUNCT__ a war which will becom a greater threat to us should we quit the central battlefield in defeat __PUNCT__
the middl east will still be a tinderbox __PUNCT__ which our defeat could ignit in a region war that will imperil our vital interest at risk there and draw us into a longer and far more costli war __PUNCT__
the prospect of genocid in iraq __PUNCT__ in which we will be moral complicit __PUNCT__ is still as real a consequ of our withdraw todai as it wa yesterdai __PUNCT__
dure our extend debat over the last few dai __PUNCT__ i have heard senat repeat certain argument over and over again __PUNCT__
my friend on the other side of thi argument accus those of us who oppos thi amend with advoc __PUNCT__ stai the cours __PUNCT__ which is intend to suggest that we ar intent on continu the mistak that have put the outcom of the war in doubt __PUNCT__
yet we all know that with the arriv of gener petraeu we have chang cours __PUNCT__
we ar now fight a counterinsurg strategi __PUNCT__ which some of us have argu we should have been follow from the begin __PUNCT__ and which make the most effect us of our strength and doe not strengthen the tactic of our enemi __PUNCT__
thi new battl plan is succeed where our previou tactic have fail __PUNCT__ although the outcom remain far from certain __PUNCT__
the tactic propos in the amend offer by my friend __PUNCT__ senat levin and reed __PUNCT__ a smaller forc __PUNCT__ confin to base distant from the battlefield __PUNCT__ from where thei will launch occasion search and destroi mission and train the iraqi militari __PUNCT__ ar precis the tactic emploi for most of thi war and which have __PUNCT__ by anyon account __PUNCT__ fail miser __PUNCT__
now __PUNCT__ that __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ is stai the cours __PUNCT__ and it is a cours that inevit lead to our defeat and the catastroph consequ for iraq __PUNCT__ the region and the secur of the unit state our defeat would entail __PUNCT__
ye __PUNCT__ we have heard quit a lot about the folli of __PUNCT__ stai the cours __PUNCT__ though the real outcom should thi amend prevail and be sign into law __PUNCT__ would be to deni our gener and the american thei have the honor to command the abil to try __PUNCT__ in thi late hour __PUNCT__ to address the calam these tri and fail tactic produc __PUNCT__ and salvag from the wreckag of our previou failur a measur of stabil for iraq and the middl east __PUNCT__ and a more secur futur for the american peopl __PUNCT__
i have also listen to my colleagu on the other side repeatedli remind us that the american peopl have spoken in the last elect __PUNCT__
thei have demand we withdraw from iraq __PUNCT__ and it is our respons to do __PUNCT__ as quickli as possibl __PUNCT__ what thei have bid us to do __PUNCT__
but is that our primari respons __PUNCT__ realli __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ is that how we constru our role __PUNCT__ to follow without question popular opinion even if we believ it to be in error __PUNCT__ and like to endang the secur of the countri we have sworn to defend __PUNCT__ sure __PUNCT__ we must be respons to the peopl who have elect us to offic __PUNCT__ and who __PUNCT__ if it is their wish __PUNCT__ will remov us when thei becom unsatisfi with our failur to heed their demand __PUNCT__
i understand that __PUNCT__ of cours __PUNCT__
and i understand why so mani american have becom sick and tire of thi war __PUNCT__ given the mani __PUNCT__ mani mistak made by civilian and militari leader in it prosecut __PUNCT__
i __PUNCT__ too __PUNCT__ have been made sick at heart by these mistak and the terribl price we have paid for them __PUNCT__
but i cannot react to these mistak by embrac a cours of action that i know will be an even greater mistak __PUNCT__ a mistak of coloss histor proport __PUNCT__ which will __PUNCT__ and i am as sure of thi as i am of anyth __PUNCT__ serious endang the peopl i repres and the countri i have serv all my adult life __PUNCT__
i have mani respons to the peopl of arizona __PUNCT__ and to all american __PUNCT__
i take them all serious __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ or try to __PUNCT__
but i have on respons that outweigh all the other __PUNCT__ and that is to do everyth in my power __PUNCT__ to us whatev meager talent i poss __PUNCT__ and everi resourc god ha grant me to protect the secur of thi great and good nation from all enemi foreign and domest __PUNCT__
and that i intend to do __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ even if i must stand athwart popular opinion __PUNCT__
i will explain my reason to the american peopl __PUNCT__
i will attempt to convinc as mani of my countrymen as i can that we must show even greater patienc __PUNCT__ though our patienc is nearli exhaust __PUNCT__ and that as long as there is a prospect for not lose thi war __PUNCT__ then we must not choos to lose it __PUNCT__
that is how i constru my respons to my constitu and my countri __PUNCT__
that is how i constru it yesterdai __PUNCT__
it is how i constru it todai __PUNCT__
and it is how i will constru it tomorrow __PUNCT__
i do not know how i could choos ani other cours __PUNCT__
i cannot be certain that i possess the skill to be persuas __PUNCT__
i cannot be certain that even if i could convinc american to give gener petraeu the time he need to determin whether we can prevail __PUNCT__ that we will prevail in iraq __PUNCT__
all i am certain of is that our defeat there would be catastroph __PUNCT__ not just for iraq __PUNCT__ but for us __PUNCT__ and that i cannot be complicit in it __PUNCT__ but must do whatev i can __PUNCT__ whether i am effect or not __PUNCT__ to help us try to avert it __PUNCT__
that __PUNCT__ mr __PUNCT__ presid __PUNCT__ is all i can possibl offer my countri at thi time __PUNCT__
it is not much compar to the sacrific made by american who have volunt to shoulder a rifl and fight thi war for us __PUNCT__
i know that __PUNCT__ and am humbl by it __PUNCT__ as we all ar __PUNCT__
but though my duti is neither danger nor oner __PUNCT__ it compel me nonetheless to sai to my colleagu and to all american who disagre with me __PUNCT__ that as long as we have a chanc to succe we must try to succe __PUNCT__
i am privileg __PUNCT__ as we all ar __PUNCT__ to be subject to the judgment of the american peopl and histori __PUNCT__
but __PUNCT__ my friend __PUNCT__ thei ar not alwai the same judgment __PUNCT__
the verdict of the peopl will arriv long befor histori __PUNCT__
i am unlik to ever know how histori ha judg us in thi hour __PUNCT__
the public judgment of me i will know soon enough __PUNCT__
i will accept it __PUNCT__ as i must __PUNCT__
but whether it is favor or unforgiv __PUNCT__ i will stand where i stand __PUNCT__ and take comfort from my confid that i took my respons to my countri serious __PUNCT__ and despit the mistak i have made as a public servant and the flaw i have as an advoc __PUNCT__ i tri as best i could to help the countri we all love remain as safe as she could be in an hour of seriou peril __PUNCT__
