Blog Post
The American people reject the President's call for an 'enduring relationship' with Iraq that is based on leaving our troops in the middle of a deadly civil war for at least 10 years. The President failed to answer how maintaining 130,000 soldiers in Iraq would strengthen our military, make us safer, or how he would pay for its additional $700 billion cost.
Transcript:
Transcript:
Good evening.I'm Senator Jack Reed from Rhode Island, and I was privileged to serve in the United States Army for 12 years.
Fact-checking parts of the President's remarks (as prepared for delivery):
The President's previous addresses to the nation regarding Iraq have been filled with slogans and rosy predictions that failed to come true. We don't know what slogan we will hear this evening, but a review of slogans past is included below.
THIS POLICY SAME AS THE OLD POLICY
Congressman Silvestre Reyes of Texas, a Vietnam combat veteran and Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, will give the Spanish language response to President Bush's speech.
WHO: Senator Jack Reed, Senior Member, Senate Armed Services Committee
The President's war in Iraq has dangerously overstretched our military, left America less protected against terrorism, and more vulnerable as other global threats emerge -- all at the cost of nearly $1 trillion to the taxpayers. In his testimony before Congress this week, even General David Petraeus could not explain how the Iraq war has made us safer.
Given these facts, the President owes the American people honest answers to the following questions: