Posted on 06/23/2006 12:57:17 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
June 23, 2006
Dear ProtectOurFreedom,
On Friday, June 16th, the House of Representatives passed a non- binding resolution expressing support for the Administration's policy in Iraq by a vote of 256 to 153. Earlier in the week, the House passed a $94 billion bill largely to support continued military operations in Iraq.
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For three years, we have been asked to "stay the course." In my view, this is not a policy.
During the debate on the floor of the House, my remarks I pointed out that merely talking about an issue does not constitute a policy. I've enclosed a copy for your perusal.
Conditions in Iraq have worsened under an accumulation of policy failures and misjudgments. Attacks on civilians are up, kidnappings are up, oil production is down, electricity production is down, and potable water is harder to come by. Just last week, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Dr. Zalmay Khalizad, said that Baghdad is "more insecure now than it was a few months ago."
A growing chorus of retired generals have spoken out forcefully about the many policy failures and what this has done to hurt the reputation of our country, and the now 2,500 Americans who have lost their lives
General Anthony Zinni, former head of U.S. Central Command said, "we are paying the price of for the lack of credible planning, or the lack of a plan." He concluded, "we are now being viewed as modern crusaders, as the modern colonial power in this part of the world."
The former top operations officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lt. General Greg Newbold, said, " [in Iraq] a fundamentally flawed plan was executed for an invented war, while pursuing the real enemy al-Qaeda, became a secondary effort."
As a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I'm outraged about the total lack of accountability of the Administration and a Congress that has failed in its duty to investigate the policy failures of the war, including pre-war Intelligence, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and Haditha.
We need a change of direction in Iraq. That's why I made the decision to cosponsor H. J. Res. 73, the resolution introduced by Congressman Jack Murtha, a highly decorated combat veteran and the senior Democrat on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. The resolution calls for the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq as soon as practicable, while maintaining a "quick-reaction" force in the region that can react if circumstances change. It will get our troops out of harms way, without leaving a vacuum in the Middle East.
It is not a "cut and run" policy as some have described it. Rather, it redirects our policy in Iraq toward diplomacy, and protects our troops.
Our troops have become the targets of insurgent attacks and the worsening sectarian violence. Because of Iraq, we are spread so thin that we can't protect U.S. interests elsewhere in the world, including the effort to track down Osama bin-Laden.
The Iraqi people have made accomplishments. Over the past three years, they have held three successful elections, adopted a new Constitution, formed a permanent government, and re-formed their security forces. This week, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld testified that there are 263,000 people trained and serving in the Iraqi Security Forces...twice the number of U.S. troops in Iraq. I believe our troops have done everything that's been asked of them. It's time for the Iraqi government to assume the lion's share of the responsibility for their country.
If you have any questions or comments, let me hear from you.
Sincerely,
Anna G. Eshoo Member of Congress
We hardly need to add that she is one of the reasons Californians pretend not to know who their representatives are.
This is interesting. Is one of the new talking points going to be "the Iraq war was a SUCCESS, therefore our job is done?" Very interesting,unless I'm missing something in the above and need more caffeine.
Hey! That man said "God"!
The Dems see the success we're having. They publicly say what you quoted, but privately, its: "Hurry up and get the troops out! Next they'll catch Bin Laden! More terrorists will be killed! A stable democracy will form! We can't let that happen!"
Yep, I thought so.
Eshoo?
Gesundheit!
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