Washington D.C. Office
713 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224-2854
(202) 228-4260 fax
(202 228-1404 TDD
Email our office

Chicago Office
John C. Kluczynski Federal Office Building
230 South Dearborn St.
Suite 3900 (39th floor)
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(312) 886-3506
(312) 886-3514 fax
Toll free: (866) 445-2520
(for IL residents only)

Springfield Office
607 East Adams Street
Springfield, Illinois 62701
(217) 492-5089
(217) 492-5099 fax

Marion Office
701 North Court Street
Marion, Illinois 62959
(618) 997-2402
(618) 997-2850 fax

Moline Office
1911 52nd Avenue
Moline, Illinois 61265
(309)736-1217
(309)736-1233 fax

Obama: GAO Report Shows Iraq’s Leaders Not Achieving Political Benchmarks

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Obama Press Office 202-228-5566


WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement in response to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, which concludes the Iraqi government has not met most of the security and economic benchmarks set by Congress:

“The GAO report confirms that Iraq’s leaders are not achieving the political reconciliation that was the stated purpose of the surge. There is no military solution to Iraq’s civil war. It’s time for President Bush to stop searching for new justifications to continue the wrong policy. It’s time to make the future of Iraq the responsibility of Iraq’s leaders, and to stop making excuses for the Iraqi government’s failure to meet critical benchmarks. It’s time to surge our diplomacy and our efforts to deal with Iraq’s humanitarian crisis. It’s time to begin to bring our troops home so that we can relieve a strain on our military that endangers our national security. It’s time to end a war that should never have been authorized.”