I will be commenting live from 1-1:30pm EST.
After being involved in the nightmare of Iraq for longer than World War II, things are decidedly coming to a head. It is encouraging and instructive to watch Republicans edging away from the President’s willful disregard of bipartisan advice.
After the election, a number of Republicans found their voices once the American public made clear that they feel the President’s leadership on Iraq is not worthy of their support.
Any effort to equate thoughtful criticism and policy differences with emboldening the insurgents is insulting and undemocratic. After all, the President announced "Mission Accomplished" almost four years ago, and his Vice President a year and a half ago announced the insurgency was in its final throes. These people have consistently shown that they don't understand the situation. They misjudged, they misread and then they punish those who disagree and tell them what they don't want to hear.
We are at a critical time, and not just due to the strength of the insurgency and the risk to American lives, but because we're on the verge of a downward spiral that could ensnare the U.S. in a Middle East version of the Hundred Years War. With our troops stretched to the breaking point, and with Americans’ overwhelming dissatisfaction with the war and our own nation’s falling prestige, we should not increase our presence in a country that doesn't want us there. Combined, all of these elements are a prescription for disaster.
These reasons and more have led me to introduce my "New Direction for Iraq Act," H.R. 663. This is the first legislation to deal comprehensively with the military, diplomatic, political, economic and humanitarian strategies needed to move forward in Iraq. Among other things it calls for:
- Redeployment: Requires responsible redeployment of US troops from Iraq in one year.
- Stops the escalation: Prohibits the escalation of the war without specific Congressional approval.
- Reconstruction: Redirects reconstruction from large contractors to Iraqi owned businesses.
- Prosecution of war profiteers: Investigate and prosecute war profiteers and recover lost funds.
- Diplomacy: Increase diplomatic efforts with Syria and Iran to promote stability in Iraq.
- Benchmarks for the Iraqi government: Requires performance benchmarks and progress before further support.
- Refugee assistance: More assistance for Iraqi refugees who have been driven from their country.
- No permanent bases: Prohibits permanent US military bases in Iraq.
Please visit my website, read more about my legislation and offer your thoughts and comments here on Daily Kos.
Congress must stand up and resist a further escalation of troops, then insist that we begin phasing down troop levels, responsibly redeploying to reduce the targets for insurgency.
Our actions must go beyond repositioning ourselves militarily. I am one among many, including the Iraq Study Group, who for years has been urging the administration to use diplomacy to engage Syria and Iran to get more traction and leverage in Iraq and the broader Middle East. Refusal to negotiate, coupled with a hard-line military stance, puts us in a grave, precarious position. The administration has thus far refused bipartisan, commonsense advice, which is why Congress must be assertive.
It is encouraging that Chairman Waxman of the Oversight Committee is going to begin long-overdue hearings and investigations into contracting abuses and potential war profiteering. Our troops as well as our taxpayers deserve justice and protection, which means that people who have exploited military contracts must be held accountable. We need to prosecute war profiteers should be prosecuted, cancel failed contracts, , and recover inappropriate payments . The Truman Commission accomplished these same tasks at the height of World War II; surely we can bring justice to our troops and our citizens while we fight in Iraq.
We must also further engage Iraqis in the reconstruction of their own country. Not only will such efforts stretch reconstruction dollars further, but they will put money into the hands of the huge number of unemployed Iraqis and reinforce the necessity of their assuming responsibility for their country.
Because of our role in the chaos that has befallen Iraq, it is imperative that the United States assume a greater obligation for the flood of Iraqi refugees. A significant number have had their safety, and that of their families, put at risk because of their involvement with Americans. Reaching out to refugees who have risked their lives to help Americans – at their own peril – is the least we can do! My experience fighting to provide asylum for an Iraqi interpreter for the Oregon National Guard was eye opening. This administration’s record in helping and working with Iraqi refugees is shameful and must be corrected.
The United States needs to comprehensively change its approach, to act multilaterally and to hold accountable everyone involved, including people in the administration, private-sector contractors and the Iraqi government itself. This a critical time for Congress to demonstrate its accountability, to recover its power of the purse and its war powers, to institute oversight procedures, and to do all the things that the founders of the Constitution envisioned for Congress. We must reclaim the checks and balances that we in Congress were intended to provide to force a change in U.S. actions on the ground in Iraq.
We do this administration no favors by not holding them accountable. The harsh judgment of history will find not only this administration wanting, but also Members of Congress if we fail to execute our responsibilities. Congress needs to act to protect the administration from itself and our nation from further failures. As we work to develop a stable, long-term and comprehensive vision for the future, I am convinced that the elements laid forth in my legislation will be essential to achieve the best outcome still possible for both the United States and the Iraqi people.