It's Time to Make a Choice in Iraq
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.
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Wishful thinking.
Amercia will stay in Iraq until it is completely Bankrupt and has destryed itself from within.
To many people are making to much profit to end the so called "War."
As I have said many times, "Dead Troops = Halliburton Profits = Money in Dick Cheney's Bloody Pockets."
The Democrats have utterly failed to stop the demise of the United States of America.
Before Bush leaves office (if he leaves office) it will get much worse for the Nation.
Dead Troops don't matter, only profit matters.
Dear Governor Richardson - Your voice of sanity is long overdue in the cacophony of MIC and oil company employees clogging the arteries of potential American leadership.
Don't allow yourself to be underestimated, sir. Even if you don't get the nomination, as a third party candidate you CAN WIN!
Remember your roots and get everyone to vote!
We are all weary of Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton.
Save America using ALL Americans.
God bless.
Absolutely first rate there getoffmedz. Now this is the type of thinking I've been preaching about.
Reject the MSM. Reject the garbage spewing from the D's and R's.
Walk into that voting booth and drag as many of your friends as you can with you. VOTES people, VOTES is what it takes.
We should never have let the idiot-in-chief get us into this mess, but we did.
Do we now have no moral obligation to stay until we fix what we broke, and can we just abandon those Iraqis who have worked with us to be trapped in the crossfire of the death squads who will be fighting each other over who gets to be first to slaughter those we kick to the curb?
Pandering is the absolute best way to win votes, it seems - especially around here.
However, while simplistic solutions to complex problems lend themselves well to pandering, they do not solve anything, much less end wars.
Besides, there is already a plan out there for ending the war responsibly that will allow for the relatively speedy withdrawal of US forces without leaving a failed state behind and problems for the US for generations to come.
Senator Biden's Iraq strategy offers the only hope there is for a political solution based on federalism and the Iraqi Constitution - most Iraqi leaders support it, why can't you?
Governor,
I made my choice and it sure ain't you! Your withdrawl plan is fine; your other ideas need re-thinking.
Nice try but this speech didn't work on me...
If you think this is pandering, haven't you bought into the right wing frame on the war?
Biden's plan is a joke. The Iraqis want no part of it. He's become the Lieberman of the 2008 race - the Democrat least likely to get the U.S. out of Iraq. Biden voted for the war in 2002 and has continuely voted to fund it - without setting any timelines for our withdrawal. And Biden is proposing to spend billions more than even Bush is asking for on the war.
Stephen,
Senator Biden's strategy for Iraq is what will end up being implemented because that is what the Iraqi people want. They want to keep their country united in a federal system.
Senator Biden is the most likely to get the US out of Iraq, in more ways than one (he has been working tirelessly in the Senate to put that body on record as being opposed both to permanent US military bases in Iraq and to control over Iraq's natural resources), in a responsible manner that will not see US forces back in country within a generation!
Senator Biden has long been meeting with Iraqi leaders - from all sides of the ethnic, tribal, and religious divide - and they support the fundamental premise of his strategy, which is a political accommodation based on principles of federalism as outlined in the Iraqi Constitution. Iraqi Kurdistan is a living, breathing example.
Senator Biden, for his part, did not "vote for war" when he voted for the Iraq Resolution, 2002. I understand why so many people reduce that vote to such simplistic terms by arguing that it was a vote to rush to war. However, that vote can also be understood, as it was by Senator Biden and many of his colleagues, as a march to peace. Of course, these are very complicated and debatable issues.
Senator Biden has worked hard to make sure those billions of dollars were part of the Iraq supplemental in order to fund the MRAP vehicles that will protect and save the lives of the soldiers in the field there from IEDs and the like, for as long as they are there. Surely you are not finding fault with that, are you?
"Relatively speedy withdrawal" of troops?
It was a failed state before we invaded.
Bush and Cheney, and the other departed heroes - Rove, Wolfowitz, and Rumsfeld, made the plans for a "relatively seedy withdrawal." Now they've jumped ship.
Why don't we do the same, and jump out of Iraq? Now, I'd call that a "speedy withdrawal."
This stuff looks good on this Lefty loon blog,Gov. Richardson-but pulling outALL troops-not just combat troops-is a horrible mistake!!!How can you NOT leave troops to train the Iraqi police and military?How can you NOT leave troops to protect our interests in Iraq?? You can only do that ,sir, when the UN and the surrounding countries get involved....and they refuse to! Even our staunchest ally, Great Britian, is pulling out half of its troops,sir! Pulling out ALL troops is irresponsible,sir, and I refuse to support anyone who believes this is the smartest move!!!
Exactly what are our "interests" in Iraq? If you are speaking of an embassy then that job is one normally performed by the Marine Corps.
As for training I submit that the Iraqi army and other armed forces are already "trained" to protect the interests of their country.
As for the UN, well I'll grant you that point but you are already seeing "other" countries getting involved although you may not like who those countries are.
Hey Bill, you're one of the good guys and it is always nice to see you post here.
Just wondering if you or any of your staffers spent any time here over the past few days, and if you noticed any of the exchange between Arianna and Nancy Pelosi?
I'd have to double check.....but I'm pretty sure the word "impeachment" was mentioned once or twice.
Any thoughts on this hot topic?
I'm still hoping to see you and or Dennis Kucinich over with the Green party soon.
In any case I know you'll be fighting the good fight for the people. Thanks.
Governor Richardson
I completely concur with your aspiration to withdraw all US troops and personnel from Iraq as quickly and judiciously as possible. Our presence there is only exacerbating the internal conflict among the three religious/ethnic fractions.
Best of luck on your journey to the White House.
you see the pbs tv show on "cheney's law" the chency/bush admin is not about to listen to anybody, much less goveners, they are going to do what the hell they want, like they have been doning ,and there is not a damn thing the people of this country are willing to do about it except wait them out, so save your stump speeches, yours and our words mean nothing and have meant nothing in the past, it will take more than talk to get these clowns to do anything that they don't want to, congress sure as hell is scared of them.
Kucinich has had this position all along. Not only that: he's exposed the "division of oil revenue" legislation for what it is: a proposal to steal Iraq's oil, not something that exposes the incompetence of the Iraqi political class. See .
So far as I know, he's the sole candidate to say a thing about this.
Kucinich is also the only candidate who has furthermore promised to reduce pentagon spending (Obama says he'll *increase* it!).
FYI, The U.S. already spends more than the rest of the world combined on its military and has soldiers stationed in 144 countries overseas. When do we say "enough" to that?
Richardson is worth listening to about this, and so is his energy policy. He's just not the first to get there.
Dear Governor Richardson,
Unless you blow up between now and the primary, my vote is for you. Just remember when you're our 44th POTUS and should you change your mind about withdrawal, all our friends at getourtroopsout.com and I will stage massive protests outside your residence on Pennsylvania Avenue. While you boast a quickie time line for withdrawal, you must be prepared to anticipate any and (most) all consequences.
The solution is not as much ending the war and getting our troops home as fast as you promise, but doing it in a way that reduces the potential blow back that has been a broken record with the current administration.
You have the guts to stand by your convictions. My vote for you is a gamble that you also possess the wisdom to avoid mindless repercussions in the process.
Thank you for having enough selfless responsibility, passion and wisdom to volunteer for the most difficult job on the planet.
On Iraq, you seem to be one of the few voices of reason amongst the candidates (from both parties).
The longer the US pursues this neurotic and dangerous foreign policy (in Iraq and the Middle East) the less secure US and US interests become...and by the same token, the richer and more powerful the military industrial complex will become.
Look at the ledger thus far: 1) a profound disaster that has dramatically increased the ranks of anti-US terrorist, 2) at least $2 TRILLION in US tax dollars already spent and those that must be committed to paying for veteran benefits and the costs on US society., 3) 40,000 US casualties...and that does not even take into account the 150K in psychologically, emotionally and mentally damaged troops... or the troops that will be coming down with mysterious diseases in the coming years as a result of their service in Iraq. 4) etc., etc.
i guess the madness does not stop until the corporations and individuals getting rich off this war have sucked the US Treasury dry and totally broken the back of the US military... maybe then will congress and the majority of Americans finally say ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
Gov. Richardson:
I applaud your unequivocal statement. It will take great courage to deliver on that pledge. It will require us to abandon military bases which have already been built and ones still under construction.
And the behemoth American Embassy in downtown Baghdad. Shall that be abandoned or scaled back?
How will you deal with the militarists, neocons and oil consortiums whose collective 'muscle' will be brought to bear in opposition to your plan?
Your endeavor will have my support and that of much of our citizenry. And one hopes, enough constitutional loyalists inside the Pentagon.
Only Richardson gets it on Iraq. He doesn't attempt as the other Dems are trying to have it both ways - bash Bush, call for an end to the war but then not commit to actually bringing the occupation to a prompt end so as to appeal to the D.C. insiders that got us in the war to start with.
Richardson understands that by the U.S. remaining in Iraq, we unwittingly perpetuate the war. Our troops have become the targets in a civil war. The Iraqi government, in turn, is dependent on the U.S. for security that the Iraqis themselves should provide.
None of the other major Dem candidates have any foreign policy experience or the confidence in their own judgment to stand up to the military and political establishment and unambiguously call for a complete and prompt withdrawal from Iraq.
In the end if HRC is the nominee, what difference will there be between her and the Republican nominee on Iraq? Both will say we need to change course and bring the war to end - but "prudently and cautiously." The Democrats will lose the advantage they have on the most critical issue of the election. And America will lose because we will continue to be stuck in Iraq for years to come regardless of who wins. We need to get behind Richardson.
Paul, Gravel and Kucinich get it.
Which one said "We marched right in, we can march right out?"
Yes, but Richardson is best positioned to take the nomination of the four.
Beg to differ guv. Should have been done years ago.
Good God Almighty, Bill, we HAVE made our choice. Get out now. But you see, the people have no power. The congress has no power. Bush/Cheney hold all the cards and they are bent on world destruction. This country is being run by criminals and 'our' Democratic congress WILL NOT HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE. Disgraceful. This country is so over. RIP, America 1776-2001.
Congress has the power of the purse. That they do not use it is the reason their approval rating is worse than Bush's.
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