Reaction Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
To The President’s Address On U.S. Strategy In Iraq
November 30, 2005

“What the White House released today is more a list of goals than it is a workable plan.  Concerns continue to mount that the Administration either will not or cannot recognize the clear facts on the ground that threaten our troops and our true objectives in combating terrorism worldwide.

“This vague plan has as much credibility as when the President stood on the aircraft carrier and declared ‘mission accomplished,’ and more than 1900 more brave American soldiers have died in Iraq in the meantime.  

"After nearly 1000 days of warfare and more than 2100 American deaths in Iraq, it speaks volumes that only now, as public support for the war continues to plummet, does the White House feel the need to address concerns about the Administration’s strategy in Iraq.  Unfortunately it is nothing more than a spruced up version of more of the same, riddled with feel-good rhetoric that bears little relationship to the facts facing our troops.  This debate is not about whether we need an effective, global strategy, with our allies, against anti-Western religious extremism and terrorism.  We do.  Rather, the debate is about how best to deal with those threats.  Iraq has become a rallying cry and a recruiting ground for terrorists, and the longer we pursue this failed policy, the more dangerous the world will become.

“A large bipartisan Senate majority has gone on record to signal a lack of confidence in the vague course the Administration has been following in Iraq.  I once again urge the President to sit down with Congress to come up with a real plan, with real benchmarks, to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis and for the orderly withdrawal of our troops.”

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