Nick Smith, September 28, 2003

Congress is debating how much American taxpayers should have to pay for the ongoing military and construction efforts in Iraq. The President gave a compelling speech at the U.N. on September 23. The speeches by Secretary General Kofi Annan and President Luis Inacio da Silva of Brazil suggested that little support would come without help for poorer countries with lower tariffs, financial support, etc. At the same time, the U.N. announced that it would pull many of its people out of Iraq due to security concerns. In my view, this sends a signal to terrorists that perhaps the U.N. and other countries will pull out if they cause enough trouble, and a signal to us that, despite their rhetoric, they're not serious about confronting problems in Iraq.

Of course, efforts to reconstruct Iraq are occurring against the backdrop of a lightning fast military victory with few civilian or American casualties that avoided the nightmare scenarios of ethnic violence, mass migration, and Saddam destroying oil production facilities. There has been a greater problem of looting and terrorism than anticipated and security remains difficult in the midst of terrorist attacks, sabotage, and the legacy of 30 years of economic neglect. Congressional briefings suggest that many of the terrorists are coming in from neighboring countries.

Fortunately, we are making progress. Already, coalition efforts have resulted in the reopening of 90% of Iraq's public schools, all of Baghdad's universities, all of Iraq's hospitals, and 95% of its health clinics. Electric generation is now at the pre-war level, 46,000 Iraqi policemen are patrolling Iraqi streets, and 42 of the 55 "most wanted" Iraqis have been captured or killed. The Iraqi Minister of Finance has now opened Iraq to foreign (private) investment by rolling back Iraq's archaic laws. The Minister is also stimulating economic growth by capping Iraqi taxes at 15% and limiting tariffs to 5%. These policies will harness the powers of investment but retain prohibitions against foreign ownership of natural resources.

The Iraq War and the agony of occupation will be considered a success if in the next year Iraqis will be running government and maintaining democracy for themselves. Already, the 25 member Iraqi Governing Council has formed its committee to define rules by which the national constitution will be written. Just recently, the Council named ministers to manage the day-to-day affairs of Iraq. The next step will be the writing of a constitution to chart the course by which Iraq must become fully independent.

A Gallup survey reported that most Iraqis surveyed believe their lives will be better because of the invasion and getting rid of Saddam Hussein. Members of Congress who visit Iraq report that the situation is much better than the reports we see in the media. General Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, believes that if we were to pull our troops out now, some of the terrorists would take over in Iraq and many would go back to plotting to cause more destruction on our own shores.

The President has asked for $87 billion more to sustain our efforts in Iraq. I will support the $67 billion of that to resupply our armed forces, but I question the need to borrow $20 billion more for construction in Iraq. As the President said at the U.N., it is the responsibility of all free countries to fight the war on terror. The U.S. should not have to carry most all the burden.

Nick Smith is a Republican Member of Congress representing the Michigan's 7th Congressional district.