Washington, DC - Calling it "a decade long lesson in the importance of projecting the wisdom of our democratic ideals everywhere, but the power of our military strength only where and when it is absolutely necessary," U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued the following statement on the tenth anniversary of the start of the Iraq War:

"I am proud to look back on my decision to vote against the war from the start. Even when it was an unpopular vote ten years ago, I know that it was the right vote. It was a war of choice, not a war of necessity.

"The use of force is deadly serious business. It's not a decision to be taken lightly. Our rationale must be credible and we cannot make assumptions based on best-case scenarios as we did in Iraq. The case for military action based on the existence of weapons of mass destruction was proven false, and our misplaced hopes about being 'greeted as liberators' and 'Mission Accomplished' gave way to a decade-long war that took the lives of more than 4,400 of our brave fighting men and women and cost as much as $2 trillion.

"Today, we should remember the sacrifice made by our troops and their families, re-commit to supporting our veterans -- from Iraq and Afghanistan - and reflect on the lesson we have learned, not as a re-litigation of the past, but as an opportunity to reflect soberly on the future. We are confronting a real proliferation challenge in the Middle East from Iran, and we've learned valuable lessons from Iraq - that sanctions work, that we have to have our ally Israel's back in this region, and that we should exhaust all options before committing to military force.

"This anniversary signifies a decade long lesson in the importance of projecting the wisdom of our democratic ideals everywhere, but the power of our military strength only where and when it is absolutely necessary."

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