Washington, D.C. – President Bush’s refusal to say when American troops will come home from Iraq leaves America less safe and adds to the already-immense burdens facing service members and their families, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said today.
Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence who traveled to Iraq a year ago, reiterated his belief that an announcement that the United States plans to redeploy its forces is the strongest weapon at our disposal to bring about political progress in Iraq:
“It’s time for President Bush to listen to the American people and take action to bring our troops home from Iraq. Today, again, the President made clear that he has no intention of doing that.
“Iraq is embroiled in a sectarian civil war. It’s clear the violence will not stop until the Iraqis take responsibility for the security and governance of their nation. To hasten that day of reconciliation, America can do one thing and one thing only: we must announce that we will redeploy our troops.
“Instead, President Bush has chosen to leave our servicemen and women in harm’s way indefinitely, with no assurance of when, or under what conditions, they will come home. America’s military has been strained almost to the breaking point, taking a serious toll on the health and welfare of our service members and their families, and leaving us ill-prepared to face gathering threats around the world.
“With more than 4,000 American lives lost and hundreds of billions of American tax dollars spent, the most important question for our nation is this: when can our troops return? President Bush’s refusal to answer that question fails our troops, repudiates the will of the American people, and mortgages our country’s security and our future.”
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