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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:
Good evening. I'm Congressman Silvestre Reyes of Texas. I am the Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and a Vietnam combat veteran.I'd like to take a few minutes of your time to discuss President Bush's remarks this evening regarding the war in Iraq.
The only thing President Bush made clear tonight is that he is determined to keep up to 130,000 troops in Iraq until at least January 20, 2009 -- the day he leaves office -- and to potentially leave America mired in Iraq's civil war for many more years to come.President Bush held out a limited troop withdrawal as a significant shift to a nation demanding a new direction. In fact, it is not a change in direction, an indication of a successful strategy, or a response to the American people. It is simply a bow to the reality that there are not enough troops to maintain the surge. And, it means America's position in Iraq will be the same in July 2008 as it was in January 2007 -- when the surge began.
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.
I opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. It was a flawed strategy that diverted attention and resources away from hunting down Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. And since then, too often, the President's Iraq policies have worsened America's security. Hundreds of billions have been spent. Our military is strained. Over 27,000 Americans have been wounded, and over 3,700 of our best and brightest have been killed.
Fact-checking parts of the President's remarks (as prepared for delivery):
"The premise of our strategy is that securing the Iraqi population is the foundation for all other progress... The goal of the surge is to provide that security -- and to help prepare Iraqi forces to maintain it..."
[Excerpt from President Bush's speech as prepared for delivery, 9/13/07]
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
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."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]
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
WHEN: Today, Thursday, September 13, 2007, following the President's remarks
WHERE: Television Networks
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: