Feingold: "I will not stand idly by as this war continues..."

On Oct. 11, 2002, at 12:50 a.m., Sen. Russ Feingold, D-WI, voted against H.J.Res. 114, one of 23 senators opposed to the congressional resolution that authorized President Bush to use military force in Iraq.

Two weeks later, exactly five years ago yesterday, Bush signed it into law.

Yesterday, marking the five-year anniversary of that signing, Feingold issued a statement that concluded:

"I will not stand idly by while this mistaken war continues. I will continue working to end this war and bring our troops home, and I will continue looking in the days and weeks ahead for opportunities to debate and vote on ending the war – this year, and, if necessary, next as well.

"My colleagues may complain, they may be inconvenienced, they may prefer to focus on other matters. But this Congress has no greater priority than making right the mistake it made five years ago when it authorized this misguided war.

"I do not want to have to come to the floor again in a year to mark another anniversary of the war’s authorization, and to again implore my colleagues to act. I do not want the American people to lose faith in their elected leaders for pursuing a war that they rightly oppose. And I do not want more American troops to be killed for a war that does not serve our national security interests."

Some other points made by Feingold yesterday:

-- "America is mired in a conflict that continues to have no end in sight."

-- "The region is more unstable and our credibility throughout the international community has been significantly damaged."

-- "We have spent over a half trillion dollars and stretched our military to the breaking point."

-- "Al Qaeda has been strengthened - not weakened - since we authorized military action against -- and then went to war in -- Iraq."

-- "Finding the votes to end this war is not an easy task, but for the sake of the country, we must keep trying. I, for one, am not prepared to say in mid-October, with weeks to go before we adjourn for the year, that Iraq can wait until we come back in 2008."

-- "As we were reminded last November, however, ending the disastrous Iraq war is one of the American people’s top priorities. It may well be their top priority, and we owe it to them to make it ours, as well."