And I want every one of you, every one of us, 100 senators to look in that camera, and you tell your people back home what you think. Don't hide anymore; none of us. That is the essence of our responsibility. And if we're not willing to do it, we're not worthy to be seated right here. We fail our country. If we don't debate this, if we don't debate this, we are not worthy of our country. We fail our country.
...
These young men and women that we put in Anbar province, in Iraq, in Baghdad are not beans. They're real lives. And we better be damn sure we know what we're doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder. We better be as sure as you can be.
That is the voice of Chuck Hagel, Republican Senator from Nebraska, speaking to the rest of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Refreshing to hear such candor coming not just from liberals, but from conservatives as well in the largest legislative body in the country. How many more politicians have to have this "Come-to-Jesus" moment before we find a way to stop what we're doing in the Middle East?
Link via [Crooks & Liars]
