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Iraq Book Fair & Roundtable Discussion

July 30, 2009

Statement- Thank you all for being here. 

I would especially like to thank Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey for joining me today. 

The details about the Iraq war are familiar to all of us--
• 3,063 US troops have died and more than 23,000 others have been injured. 
• More than $379 billion have been appropriated for the Iraq war. 
• And tens of thousands of Iraqis have lost their lives, their loved ones, their jobs and their homes due to this war.

We also know the Bush Administration mislead the American people – and Congress -- about the threat Iraq posed to the United States. 

However, the details of how the Administration sold this war, as well as the consequences of that decision have not always been clear.  Today, we have a unique opportunity to hear firsthand from 11 authors that have written books on the Iraq war. 
Each of these individuals have spent countless hours researching the Bush Administrations arguments for going to war, the Administration's subsequent handling of the war and have articulated it in their books. 

For example, the authors have written about:
• The Administration's manufacture of intelligence in order to sell the war to the American public;
• The mismanagement of the war;
• And perhaps most importantly we will hear about the experiences of the troops themselves --

One author chronicles a marine infantry battalion as it fought in Iraq in April 2004; another author's writes of his own tour of duty in Iraq; and another author will describe the experiences of our female servicemembers as they have served in this war as a member of the US armed forces. 

These authors have played a vital role in helping Members of Congress and the American people understand the many issues that surround the war.

Their work is incredibly important and I thank each of them for their time and effort. 

I am going to ask that Congresswoman Woolsey help me introduce each one of these authors. 

Following their introduction, each author will present the findings of his or her book for about five minutes. 

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