Pelosi: 'Choice is Between Democratic Plan for Responsible Redeployment and President's Plan for 10-Year War in Iraq'
'Tonight, the President is expected to announce a stay-the-course strategy that puts us on a path for 10 years of war in Iraq.
'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:
- How can he ask our brave men and women in uniform to risk their lives fighting in a civil war when the Iraqi government has failed to implement the reforms needed for national reconciliation to end the sectarian violence?
- How will maintaining a force of at least 130,000 Americans inIraq strengthen our military, and do we have sufficient troops to meet other military threats around the world?
- How does he propose to pay for the additional $700 billion or more that his Iraqplan will cost over the next five years?
'The American people long ago lost faith in the President's leadership of the war in Iraq because his rhetoric has never matched the reality on the ground. The choice is between a Democratic plan for responsible redeployment and the President's plan for a 10-year war in Iraq.'
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FACT SHEET
September 13, 2007
PRESIDENT BUSH'S IRAQ STRATEGY: MORE OF THE SAME
Tonight President Bush is expected to announce to the American people that he will keep at least 130,000 U.S. troops in Iraq - same level as before he announced his 'surge' strategy in January.
THIS POLICY SAME AS THE OLD POLICY
\xc2\xb7 Our military forces are 'stretched thin' and the current level of troop commitment to Iraq is unsustainable. Given the strain on the military, the Bush Administration has little choice but to drawdown troops to at least the pre-surge level.
\xc2\xb7 'Senior officials have said that unless the President chooses to break a promise to limit deployments to 15 months and guarantee 12 months at home ..., the troop increase must end next spring.' [New York Times, 8/18/07]
\xc2\xb7 Bringing home five brigades will leave 130,000 troops in Iraq - roughly the same number as were deployed in February 2007 before the 'surge.'
\xc2\xb7 All 38 of the Army's available combat units are deployed, have or are just returning or are already scheduled to deploy to Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere. [Associated Press, 8/19/07]
\xc2\xb7 Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, Jr. said in August that the 'demand for our forces exceeds the sustainable supply...If the demands don't go down over time, it will become increasingly difficult for us to provide the trained and ready forces' for other missions.[Associated Press, 8/19/07]
PATH TO 10-YEAR WAR
\xc2\xb7 Both Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and retired Army General John Abizaid said Wednesday that the U.S. will be involved in Iraq for years to come.
\xc2\xb7 Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky noted during her August trip to the region that Gen. David Petraeus referred to America's long-term role in Iraq - 'he was talking nine to 10 years.' [Washington Post, 8/26/07]
\xc2\xb7 In his testimony before the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker described our role in Iraq: 'the process will not be quick, it will be uneven, punctuated by setbacks as well as achievements, and it will require substantial U.S. resolve and commitment.'[KRT, 9/11/07]
\xc2\xb7 The Independent Jones Commission reviewing the security forces in Iraq reported it was in the best interest of both the U.S. and Iraq if America's 'footprint' in the country were smaller. 'Significant reductions, consolidations, and realignments would appear to be possible and prudent.' [9/6/07]
NO PROGRESS ON POLITICAL RECONCILIATION
\xc2\xb7 The President's justification for the surge was that 'reducing the violence in Baghdad will help make reconciliation possible.'[White House, 1/10/07]But by all accounts, including that of General Petraeus, the Iraqi government's political progress is stalled.
o National Intelligence Estimate stated: 'Iraqi political leaders remain unable to govern effectively.'
o The GAO concluded the Iraqi Government had failed to meet 15 of 18 political, security, and economic benchmarks. [9/07]
o The Congressional Research Service describes the Iraqi Government as 'collapsing.' [CRS, 9/6/07]
\xc2\xb7 Just today, the New York Times reported that the 'carefully constructed compromise on a draft law governing Iraq's rich oil fields...appears to have collapsed.' [New York Times, 9/13/07]