4000 Reasons to Take Responsibility

The situation we're in right now in Iraq is tragic, but we can solve it. Brandon Friedman at VoteVets reports that the last two weeks have been the most violent period in Iraq since September 2007. He wrote of an email from one of his friends in the Green Zone, who is now sleeping in his body armor because it is so dangerous.

It has been obvious for a long time that our presence in Iraq is making things worse, and that it is not a false choice between supporting the troops and ending the war. I grew up as the daughter of a career servicemember -- I know that I honor my father's service by safeguarding our servicemembers and their families and making a real commitment to national security. The American people understand this, even if the Republicans do not. When I chose to run for Congress, I did so knowing that what was missing in the debate over Iraq was the role of political will. I defeated my opponent in the Democratic primary, incumbent Al Wynn, because Democrats in my district wanted someone who would bring the political will to Washington to end this war.

And because of the choice that voters in my district made, and because of the choice that all voters will make in November, I am confident that we can and will end this war. The sad fact that the 4000th American troop was killed in Iraq this week only makes our task as citizens more clear. But it is not simply the election in the fall that will determine what kind of path we take in Iraq. It is our choices now, as citizens and voters, in presenting to the public candidates who will offer real alternatives to the current policies of our government.

I know this first-hand, because I helped offer voters in Maryland's fourth district a choice in who they would nominate for Congress. And then, last week, as the Democratic nominee from the fourth Congressional district in Maryland, I presented something called the Responsible Plan to End the War, along with 10 Democratic challengers and several retired military officers, a plan that points us towards a new path forward in Iraq, a path where we engage diplomatically with the rest of the world and remove all our troops from Iraq as a first step in bringing some stability to the region.

Ending the war and doing so responsibly takes sound policy, clear direction, and political will, but we can do it. In fact, we begin by offering up a responsible plan to end the war. I encourage all of you to help me and Democrats running for Congress to change the conversation around national security so that we ensure that this war does end.

Read the plan at responsibleplan.com, and if it makes sense to you, add your name as an endorser -- a citizen endorser. A few years ago, I was just your average citizen willing to bet that the political will existed among the public for a different direction in our policy-making. Now I know that it does. So let's make sure that 4000 American troops deaths, and the tens of thousands of additional American casualties and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties are the last casualties of a lack of political will in this country.

And together, let's build a new world and restore America's promise.