[Dialogue] {Spam?} {Disarmed} Letter to Bush: “Get American troops out of Iraq” -

[George Holcombe]

Aljazeera.com  	

	









Articles Signup
Aljazeera.com articles sent weekly to your email.
E-Mail Address:

First Name:

Last Name:



Print Edition

Subscribe to Print Edition Past Issues

	

 > Home > Middle East Review	

Letter to Bush: “Get American troops out of Iraq”
1/7/2007 6:00:00 PM GMT
Advertisement






(Reuters Photo) Coffins of U.S. military personnel are offloaded at  
Dover Air Force Base in Dover

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent  
a scathing letter to President George W. Bush, criticising his plans  
to deploy additional troops in Iraq, and urging him to begin pulling  
forces out of the war-torn country in four to six months.

Below is the text of the letter.

Dear Mr. President:

The start of the new Congress brings us opportunities to work  
together on the critical issues confronting our country. No issue is  
more important than finding an end to the war in Iraq. December was  
the deadliest month of the war in over two years, pushing U.S.  
fatality figures over the 3,000 mark.

The American people demonstrated in the November elections that they  
do not believe your current Iraq policy will lead to success and that  
we need a change in direction for the sake of our troops and the  
Iraqi people.

We understand that you are completing your post-election  
consultations on Iraq and are preparing to make a major address on  
your Iraq strategy to the American people next week.

Clearly this address presents you with another opportunity to make a  
long overdue course correction. Despite the fact that our troops have  
been pushed to the breaking point and, in many cases, have already  
served multiple tours in Iraq, news reports suggest that you believe  
the solution to the civil war in Iraq is to require additional  
sacrifices from our troops and are therefore prepared to proceed with  
a substantial U.S. troop increase.

Surging forces is a strategy that you have already tried and that has  
already failed. Like many current and former military leaders, we  
believe that trying again would be a serious mistake. They, like us,  
believe there is no purely military solution in Iraq. There is only a  
political solution.

Adding more combat troops will only endanger more Americans and  
stretch our military to the breaking point for no strategic gain. And  
it would undermine our efforts to get the Iraqis to take  
responsibility for their own future. We are well past the point of  
more troops for Iraq.

In a recent appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee,  
General John Abizaid, our top commander for Iraq and the region, said  
the following when asked about whether he thought more troops would  
contribute to our chances for success in Iraq:

"I met with every divisional commander, General Casey, the Corps  
commander, General Dempsey. We all talked together. And I said, in  
your professional opinion, if we were to bring in more American  
troops now, does it add considerably to our ability to achieve  
success in Iraq? And they all said no. And the reason is, because we  
want the Iraqis to do more. It's easy for the Iraqis to rely upon to  
us do this work. I believe that more American forces prevent the  
Iraqis from doing more, from taking more responsibility for their own  
future."

Rather than deploy additional forces to Iraq, we believe the way  
forward is to begin the phased redeployment of our forces in the next  
four to six months, while shifting the principal mission of our  
forces there from combat to training, logistics, force protection and  
counter-terror. A renewed diplomatic strategy, both within the region  
and beyond, is also required to help the Iraqis agree to a  
sustainable political settlement. In short, it is time to begin to  
move our forces out of Iraq and make the Iraqi political leadership  
aware that our commitment is not open ended, that we cannot resolve  
their sectarian problems, and that only they can find the political  
resolution required to stabilize Iraq.


<< Send your comment >>



IMPORTANT NOTE:


	
MIDDLE EAST

	Letter to Bush: “Get American troops out of Iraq”

	Saudi Arabia gets 72 Eurofighter jets from Britain

	Report: Egypt helped Haniyeh bring $20 mln to Gaza

	Israel plans for nuclear strike on Iran: Report

	Marines shot, killed unarmed civilians in Iraq- Report

	Hamas accuses the U.S. of funding a coup against govt

	U.S. sanctions arms suppliers to Iran, Syria

	Mubarak-Olmert summit reveals deep differences

	Bush reshuffles military leadership in Iraq

	Israeli occupation forces raid Ramallah


				Aljazeera.com  	

	

    Al Jazeera Magazine Online Edition  •  About Us  •  Contact  •   
Privacy Policy
    Copyright 1992-2006 Al Jazeera Publishing, Dubai, UAE.  
AlJazeera.com and AlJazeera Magazine are registered trade marks of
    Al Jazeera Publishing, an independent media organisation  
established in 1992 in London.

    For Advertising enquiries please contact our advertising partners  
alClick here. alClick provides advertising and marketing across  
the    Middle East with a focus in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Dubai  
advertising markets.





George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/dialogue_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20070107/60da6852/attachment-0001.html