NOTE: I'm the Clinton campaign's Internet Director
I wanted to let you know about the Iraq speech Hillary delivered today. Following are excerpts (the full transcript is here):
"We have heard for years that as the Iraqis stand up, our troops will stand down. Every year we hear about how next year, they may start coming home. Now we are hearing a new version of that very familiar song from the President."
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"After more than four years, more than $450 billion, and human costs beyond measure, it is abundantly clear that there is no military solution to the crisis in Iraq."
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"It is long past time that the president ended American combat involvement Iraq's multi-sided, sectarian civil war, fought for power, revenge, and personal advantage."
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"America needs a president with the strength and experience to end this war. I will be that president."
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"No permanent occupation of the country. No more neighborhood patrols. No more being caught in the middle of a war whose side we do not even know we should be on."
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"Our troops are paying the price. 3,598 of them have lost their lives -- 43 from right here in Iowa. These past three months have been the deadliest quarter on record, with 331 fatalities. One Army chaplain told a reporter that he tries to read a unique passage from Scripture over the body of each soldier who has been killed in his unit. But the casualties have been so heavy, he has nearly run out of suitable verses."
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"Then there are the wounded. More than 26,000 so far. Many hurt so badly, they will never fully recover. Many more with "invisible wounds" -- depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury. Young people in the prime of their lives unable to work, struggling to relate to their families and reintegrate into their communities."
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"Then there is the price the Iraqis have paid. Tens of thousands civilians -- and several thousand members of the Iraqi security forces -- have been killed. Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes -- nearly 100,000 a month -- under threat of execution by sectarian militias and kidnappings by criminal gangs."
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"The catalogue of miscalculations, misjudgments, and mistakes in Iraq shocks the conscience."
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"We cannot effectively address any of these challenges if we continue our military engagement in Iraq. As long as we stay there, our military strength will continue to erode. Our standing in the world will continue to decline. Our enemies in the region will continue to exploit our failures. Our occupation will continue to serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists. Our support for Afghan democracy, our conflict with the Taliban, and our hunt for al Qaeda will continue to be compromised. And our brave men and women will continue to lose their lives and suffer grievous wounds."
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