Not everyone in Washington was fooled by the Iraq Study Group report. Here is Rush Holt‘s statement:
I commend the Iraq Study Group for understanding that our present course in Iraq “is not working” and for recommending a significant drawdown of American combat forces. However, the ISG’s recommendation to make withdrawal contingent on “developments in the security situation on the ground” is a loophole big enough to drive many divisions through. President Bush should not interpret this qualification as license to stay the course.
Earlier today, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez sent this statement — ar more long-winded and another example of how this report is a political Rorshack test:
For the past several years the American people have cried out for a dramatic change in our nation’s Iraq policy. And as one who voted against the war in Iraq I, too, have called for a new, smart foreign policy that brings change to the Middle East and brings American troops home. Last month’s elections and today’s recommendations from the Iraq Study Group make it clear that change is indeed in the air.
It is critical to note how far the discussion on the Iraq War has shifted in such a short period of time. It was only several months ago that those of us who called for a gradual redeployment of U.S. troops were criticized for not fully understanding the
global challenges Americans face in the War on Terror. Yet today we hear from a bipartisan commission of distinguished Americans that, barring drastic unforeseen circumstances, American troops can indeed be out of Iraq by the first quarter of 2008 – a goal not too far from the one I’ve advocated for several months. I appreciate the group’s general call for US troops to be out of Iraq by the beginning of 2008 and I also believe wholeheartedly that without a firm deadline America will still fall short of our foreign policy goals.I agree with the group in their call for the U.S. to engage in substantive and vigorous diplomacy to solve the Iraq conflict. I have long called for a regional conference to engage Iraq’s neighbors and a renewed effort to engage our allies in Europe and around the globe.
Leaders of the Iraq Study Group said today that implementing their recommendations will require an extraordinary amount of political will from both the Congress and President Bush. They further make it clear that the previous ‘stay the course’ method is no longer viable. Both points are critical. Only sincere bipartisanship in both the legislative and executive branches of government can bring about true change in America’s Iraq policy.
As an incoming member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I look forward to further discussions on these pressing matters. And I thank the members of the Iraq Study Group for their service to America on such a critical issue.
Consider this a public service.
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Hank Kalet 