AN EYEWITNESS

Federal Judge Don Walter gave these remarks in a speech this summer.

I apologize for them being in all capital letters...but they are taken directly from the notes provided by the Judge's office.

BUT, I AM HERE TO TELL YOU SOMETHING OF MY FIVE WEEKS IN IRAQ.

LET ME BEGIN WITH A DISCLAIMER, I WAS IN IRAQ FOR FEWER THAN 40 DAYS, I WAS IN BAGHDAD FOR A LITTLE OVER THREE WEEKS AND IN THE THREE PROVINCES OF THE FAR SOUTH FOR TWO WEEKS. I AM LIMITED IN WHAT I SAW AND HEARD. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. I WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT INITIALLY, I VEHEMENTLY OPPOSED THE WAR.

DESPITE MY INITIAL OPPOSITION TO THE WAR, I AM NOW CONVINCED, WHETHER WE FIND ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION OR PROVE SADDAM SHELTERED AND FINANCED TERRORISTS, ABSOLUTELY, WE SHOULD HAVE OVERTHROWN THE BATHISTS, INDEED, WE SHOULD HAVE DONE IT SOONER .

WHAT CHANGED MY MIND?

WHEN I LEFT IN MID JUNE, 57 MASS GRAVES HAD BEEN FOUND, ONE WITH THE BODIES OF 1200 CHILDREN. THERE HAVE BEEN CREDIBLE REPORTS OF MURDER, BRUTALITY AND TORTURE OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ORDINARY IRAQI CITIZENS. THERE IS POVERTY ON A MONUMENTAL SCALE AND FEAR ON A LARGER ONE. AND THAT IS WHY WE MUST FIND SADDAM HUSSEIN AND HIS SONS. THE FEAR THERE IS PALPABLE!

I HAVE SEEN THE MACHINES AND PLACES OF TORTURE. I WILL TELL YOU ONE STORY TOLD TO ME BY THE CHIEF OF PEDIATRICS AT THE MEDICAL COLLEGE IN BASRA. IT WAS ONE OF THE MOST SHOCKING TO ME, BUT I HEARD WORSE.

ONE OF SADDAM'S SECURITY AGENTS WAS SENT TO QUESTION A SHI'I IN HIS HOME. THE INTERROGATION TOOK PLACE IN THE LIVING ROOM IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MAN'S WIFE, WHO HELD THEIR THREE MONTH OLD CHILD AT HER BREAST. A QUESTION WAS ASKED AND THE THUG DID NOT LIKE THE ANSWER; HE ASKED IT AGAIN, SAME ANSWER. HE GRABBED THE BABY FROM ITS MOTHER AND PLUCKED ITS EYE OUT. AND THEN REPEATED HIS QUESTION.

WORSE THINGS HAPPENED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE, INDEED WITH THE PARTICIPATION, OF SADDAM, HIS FAMILY AND THE BATHIST REGIME. THAT ALONE CONVINCES ME THAT WE WERE RIGHT TO INVADE, AND WE SHOULD HAVE SOONER. THOUSANDS SUFFERED WHILE WE WERE MESSING ABOUT WITH FRANCE AND RUSSIA AND GERMANY IN THE UN. EVERY ONE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON THERE, BUT FRANCE AND THE U.N. WERE MAKING MILLIONS ADMINISTERING THE FOOD FOR OIL PROGRAM. WAS THAT THE REASON FOR THE DELAY, I DO NOT KNOW, BUT THERE IT IS.

WE CANNOT, I KNOW, REMAKE THE WORLD, NOR DO I BELIEVE WE SHOULD . WE CANNOT STAMP OUT EVIL IN THE WORLD, I KNOW. BUT THIS TIME WE WERE MORALLY RIGHT AND OUR ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC INTERESTS WERE INVOLVED . I SUBMIT THAT JUST BECAUSE WE CANT DO EVERYTHING DOESN'T MEAN THAT WE SHOULD DO NOTHING. WE SHOULD DO WHAT WE CAN, WHEN WE CAN.

THE TOUGH QUESTION IS THE LAST, CAN WE ESTABLISH AN RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT OVER THERE. OH, WE CAN, THE REAL QUESTION IS WILL WE? WE MUST HAVE THE MORAL COURAGE TO SEE THIS THROUGH, TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO SECURE RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT FOR THE IRAQI PEOPLE.

I FEAR WE WILL QUIT AS THE HORRORS OF WAR COME INTO OUR LIVING ROOMS. LOOK AT THE STORIES YOU ARE GETTING FROM THE MEDIA TODAY. THE STEADY DRIP, DRIP, DRIP OF BAD NEWS MAY DESTROY OUR WILL TO FULFILL THE OBLIGATIONS WE HAVE ASSUMED BY OUR INVASION.

WE ARE NOT GETTING THE WHOLE TRUTH FROM THE NEWS MEDIA.

THE NEWS YOU WATCH, LISTEN TO AND READ IS HIGHLY SELECTIVE. GOOD NEWS DOESN'T SELL,THIS IS THE KIND OF YOU DON'T HEAR ABOUT....

OUR SOLDIERS, GOD LOVE THEM AND KEEP THEM: THEY SMILE EVERY TIME I GOT A CHANCE TO TALK TO THEM. THEY WANT TO COME HOME. THIS IS BORING, HOT, DIRTY AND DANGEROUS WORK.

THEY STAND IN 120 PLUS DEGREES IN FULL BODY ARMOR. I AM TOLD THAT IN HIGH SUMMER (MAY IS COUNTED AS SPRING) IN BASRA IT WILL HIT 155, EVEN 160! SADDAM USED TO DECLARE A PUBLIC HOLIDAY WHEN IT HIT 155.

OUR SOLDIERS STAND AT THEIR GUNS, AT READY, IN DANGER. THEY WANT TO COME HOME, BUT I DID NOT HEAR ONE WORD OF COMPLAINT NOR A QUESTION AS TO WHY THEY WERE THERE.

SAY A PRAYER FOR THEM. THEY ARE AMAZING. WRITE A LETTER, SEND A NOTE. TELL THEM THANK YOU. DO SOMETHING. SEND THEM A BOOK, A CD, A TAPE, A SPORTS MAGAZINE. BOREDOM DOESN'T STOP WHEN THEY STAND DOWN. THEIR ENTERTAINMENT WAS LARGELY SELF GENERATED. THEY CANT EVEN HAVE A BEER.

WHILE THEY WERE IN BATTLE, AND SOME, TO THIS DAY BATHE WITH BABY WIPES. DURING THE WAR, THE ENTIRE ARMY SMELLED LIKE A BUNCH OF BABIES, BUT THEY DON'T FIGHT LIKE ONE, NOR DO THEY ACT LIKE ONE NOW. I HOPE WE ARE WORTHY OF THEIR SACRIFICE.