Pelosi: Despite White House Report Showing Little Progress, Bush is Committed to 10 More Yrs of War

[jefferson_dem]

Source: Press Release

Pelosi: Despite White House Report Showing Little Progress, Bush is Committed to 10 More Years of War in Iraq

Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today on a new White House report that indicates that Iraq has made little progress toward meeting key political and security benchmarks:

“President Bush is committed to 10 more years of war in Iraq at a cost of untold lives lost and hundreds of billions of dollars to American taxpayers, even though today’s White House report admits little progress has been made by the Iraqi government.

“The redeployment of our troops cannot be delayed by the failure of the Iraqi government to achieve the political and economic benchmarks established by the Bush Administration. The American people reject the President’s 10-year war in Iraq and want a responsible redeployment to end this war.”


******


THE PRESIDENT’S 10-YEAR WAR IN IRAQ:
BUSH’S RHETORIC DOESN’T MATCH WHITE HOUSE’S OWN REPORT

Last night, President Bush outlined a status quo strategy that leaves at least 130,000 American soldiers in harm’s way as part of a 10-year occupation of Iraq, even as a White House report released today disputes the key points of optimism President Bush highlighted in his speech last night.

“The White House told Congress Friday that Iraqi leaders gained little new ground on key military and political goals, a discouraging assessment a day after President Bush said progress justifies a large continued U.S. military presence there…”

PRESIDENT BUSH: “One year ago, much of Baghdad was under siege. Schools were closed, markets were shuttered, and sectarian violence was spiraling out of control. Today, most of Baghdad’s neighborhoods are being patrolled by Coalition and Iraqi forces who live among the people they protect. Many schools and markets are reopening. Citizens are coming forward with vital intelligence. Sectarian killings are down. And ordinary life is beginning to return.” <9/13/07>

WHITE HOUSE REPORT: “Unfortunately, total civilian casualties did not fall as significantly over the same period, as al-Qaida launched several high-casualty vehicle IED attacks in Baghdad and the northern provinces in an attempt to provoke greater sectarian violence… militias are still acting outside the law in the uncleared parts of Baghdad and the southern provinces of Karbala, Basra, Qadisiyah, and Maysan. In these areas, militia members have either infiltrated Iraqi Security Forces or brokered deals with the local ISF or civilian leadership.”

PRESIDENT BUSH: “Yet Iraq’s national leaders are getting some things done. For example, they have passed a budget. They are sharing oil revenues with the provinces. They are allowing former Ba’athists to rejoin Iraq’s military or receive government pensions. And local reconciliation is taking place. The key now is to link this progress in the provinces to progress in Baghdad. As local politics change, so will national politics.” <9/13/07>

WHITE HOUSE REPORT: “Reconciliation in a society marked by nearly four decades of dictatorship will not be linear and will take time, patience, and support from the international community…Moving these laws forward depends on deal-making among major players in a society divided along sectarian, ethnic, and other lines — and navigation of a nascent democratic system with checks and balances that, while protecting minority groups, also slows legislative progress…The natural tension between groups has been exacerbated by political blocs threatening to withdraw support from the government…they have contributed to an environment of mistrust and gridlock.”

PRESIDENT BUSH: “…ultimately, the way forward depends on the ability of Iraqis to maintain security gains…the Iraqi army is becoming more capable, although there is still a great deal of work to be done to improve the National Police. Iraqi forces are receiving increased cooperation from local populations. And this is improving their ability to hold areas that have been cleared.” <9/13/07>

WHITE HOUSE REPORT: “There are still challenges in developing Iraqi institutions to sustain existing forces, delays in obtaining required equipment, persistent ethno-sectarian influences and political interference, a limited pool of trained officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and attrition from combat.”

Read more: http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=757

[partylessinOhio]

1. Yawn! IMPEACH

2 cozy

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[Drum]

2. ...says the enabler.

x(

[Baby Snooks]

4. Madame "We don't have the votes" Speaker speaks...

Her demands for Bush to act are always framed by her refusal to do so. Always on the basis of "we don't have the votes."

With or without the votes, she should continue to make her statements through legislation submitted on the floor of the House instead of a sound bite here and there.

The Democrats took back Congress a year ago and turned around and gave it back to the Republicans. You can thank Madame Speaker for that.

[Rageneau]

3. The Rigt Wing wants us in Iraq forever. Bush is just stalling til we accept that.

The Rethug plan is a permanent American presence in Iraq. Period. The whole point of the invasion and the phoney surge was to GET and KEEP American troops there. Bush and the Thugs NEVER intend to come home from Iraq, so all the jabber about troop draw-downs is nothing but a shiny toy used to distract us momentarily, over and over again, as the thugs go right on ahead with what they intended all along.

It isn't that Bush intends to leave Iraq for he next president. It's that, regrdless of who the next president is, the US will be stuck in Iraq with no way to leave ... forever. That was ALWAYS the plan.

Don't fall for Bush's tricks. Te man is truly evil and at least five times more devious and despicable than even most of his opponents yet realize.

Hello, Guantanamo.

[liberal renegade]

5. Unfreakingbelievable!

And to think he gets a huge government pension for the rest of his worthless life.....

[Baby Snooks]

6. As does she...

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/090607J.shtml

"According to Democratic candidates who ran for House of Representative seats in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took sides during the Democratic primary elections, favoring conservative candidates, including former Republicans, and sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq."

"Appointed as head of the DCCC by then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Emanuel spearheaded the Democratic Party effort to regain control of the House of Representatives during the 2006 election cycle."

Makes you wonder. Sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq? Makes you angry as you wonder. Makes you ill when you realize that Cindy Sheehan hit the nail on the head.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[Baby Snooks]

9. Caught again...

Thought I'd fooled you.

[paulk]

8. the dccc sidelined candidates who had no chance of winning

their districts and replaced them with those who did.

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why are you hiding your profile?

[Baby Snooks]

10. Well....

Maybe I didn't know it was hidden?

[dickbearton]

14. Baby Snookered...

Sounds like you don't understand S&T. Try reading up on
power politics.

[paulk]

15. you do now

[Rosa Luxemburg]

11. Nancy please mention the DRAFT and you are most of the way home!

DRAFT, my dear! That'll do it!

[deacon]

12. We ALL know this. Now do something about it. n/t

[Neshanic]

16. And this is a surprise to her? Big secret...any Democrat elected for prez will stay there also.

Clinton, Obama, Edwards, yes even Edwards will have troops in Iraq if elected. They will cite a new criteria after taking office, and we will have been taken for a ride. Pelosi and Reid will cover.

[tomg]

17. Please, Sir, may I have some more Gruel.

Fuck this. We need a National Impeachment Day.

The only way to End the War - Impeach Now
The first step to saving the Environment - Impeach Now
The first step toward National Health Care - Impeach Now

[Hawkowl]

18. Tits on a boar

That's how useful madame enabler is. Just say NO to funding the mercenaries. Disgustingly weak once again.

[KansDem]

19. "Bush is Committed "

Now that's a headline I'm waiting to read!

[truthisfreedom]

20. I'm afraid the American public is finally getting so fatigued by bush's outright refusal to do

anything we want him to do, that the strong voices to end the war are wavering. Nancy is making sense, and many Democratic responses to his "lies upon lies" speech have been spot-on, but I'm not hearing anything from my friends. It's like some sort of radio silence. We need a new voice out there with a message that encompasses what's burning inside us and rips back the harlot skirts of this administration to expose the festering disease.

Okay, maybe that was a bit graphic. But I think you get my point.