This is cross posted at The Huffington Post and posted here for your convenience in case you missed it yesterday.
Truly ending the war in Iraq will only come about when our troops are no longer targets. That is why Governor Bill Richardson believes that we should not leave behind any of our troops. --Joaquin H. Guerra, Bill Richardson for President.
It's Time to Make a Choice in Iraq
By Governor Bill Richardson
Yesterday,twelve former Army captains wrote that short of reinstating the draft, "our best option is to leave Iraq immediately." In an extraordinary editorial in the Washington Post, these captains--all of whom served in Iraq--made it clear that we need to end this war and we need to end it now. They wrote that a " scaled withdrawal will not prevent a civil war and it will spend more blood and treasure on a losing proposition."
I strongly urge every American to read this important report from those who served in the failed conflict in Iraq. Army captains are the staff officers who plan operations against insurgent strongholds. They are the company commanders who lead our soldiers through the streets of Baghdad. And they are the soldiers who will direct our withdrawal from Iraq.
These men and women know the score. They know that we must leave Iraq. As they put it, "It's time to make a choice." Americans are fed up with the President's stalling and Congressional failure to act. Frankly, it is well past time we make a choice. And the only responsible choice left to us is to get all of our troops out of Iraq, with no residual forces left behind--no combat forces, no non-combat forces. As President, I will do it. I will get all of our troops out within a year after I take office - sooner if we can get it done safely.
The other major candidates in this race have said--again and again--that they will not. Senators Edwards, Obama, and Clinton have all refused to commit to getting all of our troops out of Iraq by 2013. None of them are willing to be clear about removing all troops - combat and non-combat. It's unbelievable. Are they looking at the same war the rest of us are? Furthermore, they are all advocating precisely the sort of scaled withdrawal that these twelve captains are warning against. It doesn't make any sense. Real leadership is about making the tough choices, and knowing when it is time to make bold moves. Now is the time for action, not hesitation. Ending this war requires real change, not more incrementalism.
Ending this war is the most important issue of our time. And it is the fundamental difference between me and Senators Edwards, Obama, and Clinton. I will end the war; they will not. I will get all of our troops out; they will leave troops behind indefinitely. I will order a safe and rapid withdrawal and have our troops out within a year. They have proposed a long, protracted withdrawal that will only increase the danger to our fighting men and women and drag out the war.
2013 is six years from now - six years. In six years, will we have lost 6,000 men and women in Iraq? 10,000? More? In six years will this be a $2 trillion mistake? Or $3 trillion? The war has been going on for four and half years already. Six years from now, we will have been there for more than a decade. Are you okay with that? I'm not.
The choice in Iraq is clear. We need to get all our troops out quickly. We need to end this war for real. Go to getourtroopsout.com to join Americans across the country in calling for a quick, clear, responsible end to the war in Iraq.
Not long ago, Pastor Dan at Street Prophets put up this map:
Which is kind of encouraging and kind of depressing. It's encouraging because it shows exactly how much of America wants to end Bush's War on American Soldiers Deployed Abroad. It's depressing because four of the twelve dumbest Congressional districts in the country are apparently located in Texas.
Of course, Tx-19 has Randy Neugebauer to sell us outnot-represent us, so our credentials are well-established.
But Blue 19th shows us that all may not be lost. In a uber-non-scientific internet poll EverythingLubbock.com poll (this includes the news-sites for both KAMC (ABC) and KLBK (CBS) affiliates), a majority of respondants want US troops to come home from Iraq.
An updated count is 277 (58.32%) for, 198 (41.68%) against. All of the standard cautions about internet polling apply - probably in triplicate. And it has to be noted that not enough people have responded to even make it close to being statistically valid even if respondants were randomized. Still, it is the first polling data I've seen that shows public opinion turning in Tx-19.
It's enough to raise an optimist's expectations just enough to have them crushed.
We've waited "Long Enough" for an answer on how many residual troops the other Democratic Presidential Candidates will leave behind in Iraq. That's why the name of our campaigns' new TV ad is entitled "Long Enough."
Bill Richardson is changing the debate with his clear, bold, plan to end the war and bring all the troops home. This war will drag on as long as our troops are in Iraq.
In California today Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill that had passed the California legislature on Aug 31 to put a referendum on Iraq on the ballot in California.
California State Democratic Party Chairman Art Torres said in a statement:
"The Republican Party must stop looking at this war through rose-colored glasses and start working with Democrats across the country on a way to bring a responsible end to the war."
In Texas we are making progress towards getting a referendum question on the Texas Democratic Party's primary ballot for next March. Schwarzenegger's veto highlights the differences between the Democrats and Republicans on Iraq. The Republicans started this war by using faulty intelligence to mislead the public into believing that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Then, the Republicans went on to bungle the war and mire us in a civil war in Iraq. The Democrats will be the party that ends the war and brings our troops home.
Bush's handling of the war has been so inept that the 2008 election could be an historic realigning election that could result in Democrats winning more than 60 seats in the Senate. The key to achieving such a victory is for the Democrats to push hard for ending the war before Bush leaves office and to make sure that the public knows that after a Democrat moves into the White House on Jan 20, 2009, the war in Iraq will soon be over.
Last night, I spoke at the West Austin Democrats and they endorsed a resolution asking the State Democratic Executive Committee (SDEC) to put the referendum on the TDP primary ballot. Other clubs that have passed endorsesments of the proposal are the South Austin Democrats, Central Austin Democrats, Lake Travis Democrats, and Capital Area Progressive Democrats.
On Monday, Sept 17, I will speak at the North by Northwest Democrats. They are having a forum on Iraq. I will ask them to endorse the proposal also. The meeting is Monday, September 17th, at 6:00 pm at La Madeleine, 3418 N. Lamar, in Austin.
Texas Democratic Party rules and state law allow the party to hold non-binding referendums on issues placed on the primary ballot either directly by the SDEC.
The proposed ballot language is:
"Shall President George W. Bush, in support of the men and women serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, end the United States occupation of Iraq and immediately begin the safe and orderly withdrawal of all United States forces?"
Turnout will already be high for the primary because of the intense interest in the presidential candidates. Adding a referendum on Iraq would probably raise interest and turnout in the primary even higher. Some people may even turn out to vote just so they can explicitly vote for bringing the troops home.
Most of us know that, on Monday of this week, MoveOn.org took out an ad in the New York Times questioning the accuracy, veracity, and trustworthiness of General Petraeus' reporting on the status of violence in Iraq and the progress (or lack thereof) of the surge. You can see the ad for yourself here.
Well, questioning our leaders might be all well and good according to the Constitution, but it didn't sit well with Senator John Cornyn. So what did ole' Box Turtle do? He filed a resolution in the U.S. Senate condemning the MoveOn.org ad, saying:
"Even by the standards of the poisonous atmosphere in Washington, this ad is out of bounds," Cornyn said. "It is character assassination of the first order."
OK, so John doesn't like it when people call General Petraeus names - so much so that he's willing to file a Senate resolution over it.
So my question is: What will John Cornyn do in response to Petraeus' boss, CENTCOM Chief Admiral William Fallon, calling Petraeus out:
Fallon told Petraeus [in March] that he considered him to be "an ass-kissing little chickensh*t" and added, "I hate people like that", the sources say.
Surely, John Cornyn won't stand for that kind of "character assassination of the first order" by Admiral Fallon. So, when can we expect Cornyn to call for Admiral Fallon's resignation? (Or could Cornyn have just been doing some political grandstanding against MoveOn.org? Hmmmm...)
Congressman Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) spoke on the House floor yesterday about the failure of the surge to achieve its objective. Seems pretty relevant since all the Republicans think things are going so well over there.
The President's surge is as successful as the President's boast to capture Osama bin Laden 'dead or alive.'
Now Congress must respond to the President's propaganda surge with a truth surge, with a memory surge that reminds America of repeated false cries of progress and phony excuses that have only brought our families more insecurity. Congress must learn from the courage of our troops. Appeasement will not stop this wrongheaded administration policy. More blank checks will only drain our national treasury while fueling more death and destruction that only endangers our families.
I have a fundamental question for you two – a really simple basic question. One that every American should be asking themselves right now as you – and the rest of our Senators – get ready to return from your month-long break.
When the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that our troops were at their breaking point, when the Department of Defense reported that our current deployment policies are compounding the wounds of war, causing mental health problems among our troops to skyrocket, and that one of the primary causes was our current policy of deploying troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate dwell time at home, why didn’t you do something about it?
Cross-posted from Blue 19th - but this is just a teaser
What passes for a newspaper in Lubbock is toeing the Republican line on Iraq - so the next time you pick up the AJ, that funny stain on your fingers is the blood of our soldiers.
WE HAVE grown weary of the endless political posturing, criticism and squabbling regarding the U.S. presence in Iraq. We are about a month away from Gen. David Petraeus' progress report to Congress about Iraq, and it would be nice if the critics could take a break until we hear the analysis from the military expert.
I, personally, have grown weary of partisan hacks pretending like a couple of weeks is going to somehow make a vast difference in what is going on in Iraq.
Snip
The only ones who can't see the facts are the editorial board at the AJ - who apparently have their heads firmly planted inside of the Bush Noise Machine. Unfortunately, their job is to inform the public, not to misinform them. So not only are they refusing to do their job, they are also being complicit in the deaths of our brave men and women in uniform.
That's unforgiveable for a politician (are you listening, Randy Neugebauer?). But it is completely indefensible for a newspaper.
There’s one thing clear about Iraq. American troops have done their job. They’ve toppled Saddam Hussein, verified he had no Weapons of Mass Destruction, and supervised three elections. Our brave men and women have even trained hundreds of thousands Iraq security forces. Now’s the time for Iraqis to take care of themselves.
America troops have a different mission, defeating the murderers who killed 3,000 Americans on 9/11. When the President and Congress shifted military and intelligence resources from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iraq, they allowed Al Qaida time to regroup. Instead of staying caught in the middle of an Iraqi civil war, our men and women in uniform need to strike at the heart of the threat to the United States—Osama Bin Laden.
Partisan Washington politicians now want to use the renewed Al Qaida threat as an excuse for the permanent occupation of Iraq. We must say no. We can't let their failure to secure America bring fear into our hearts.
We can have a winning strategy in the Middle East. Winning requires repositioning our troops from the chaotic civil war and stationing them in friendly countries to respond to emergencies and fight terrorism. The President must repair relationships with America’s traditional allies. Finally, the United States must pressure Egypt and Saudi Arabia to reform their societies and stop using us as their scapegoat.
Just four Republican members of Congress had the courage late last week to vote for a bill requiring that U.S. troops stationed in Iraq be deployed by next April. Mike McCaul was not among those showing such courage. Instead, he voted to keep taxpayers' sons and daughters mired in the escalating violence while the Baghdad government continues to enjoy its summer-long vacation.
For Central Texans who have been watching Mr. McCaul put his rubber stamp on the White House's failed public policies for the past four years, his vote last week was no surprise.
