Kennedy Iraq speech excerpts

The insurgency is largely home-grown. By our own government's count, the ranks of the guerillas are large and growing larger.

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We cannot defeat the insurgents militarily if we fail to effectively address the political context in which the insurgency flourishes. Our military and the insurgents are fighting for the same thing-the hearts and minds of the people - and that is a battle we are not winning.

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In the end, there is only one choice. America must give Iraq back to the Iraqi people. We need to let them make their own decisions, reach their own consensus, and govern their own country.

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We need to rethink the Pottery Barn rule. America cannot forever be the potter that sculpts Iraq's future. President Bush broke Iraq, but if we want Iraq to be fixed, the Iraqis must feel that they own it.

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The stakes are enormously high. The Iraqi people are facing historic issues -- the establishment of a government, the role of Islam, and the protection of minority rights.

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The United States and the international community have a clear interest in a strong, tolerant and pluralistic Iraq, free from chaos and civil war.

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The first point in a new plan would be for the United Nations, not the United States, to provide assistance and advice on establishing a system of government and drafting a Constitution. An international meeting - led by the United Nations and the new Iraqi Government -- should be convened immediately in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East to begin that process.

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Error is no excuse for its own perpetuation. Mindless determination doesn't make a better outcome more likely. Setting a firm strategy for ending the mission may not guarantee success, but failure to do so will almost certainly guarantee failure. Casualties are increasing. America is tied down. Our military is stretched to the breaking point. Our capacity to respond to crises and threats elsewhere in the world has been compromised.

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