Congress has a critical choice, endorse President Bush’s open-ended commitment to a failed strategy, or hold the Bush Administration and the Iraqi Government accountable and set a responsible timeline for the phased redeployment of U.S. troops.

In the face of mounting evidence that no progress is being made in Iraq—and mounting criticism from military leaders, defense experts, Republican and Democratic Members of Congress, and the American people—the President continues to support a failed policy that is neither making America safer nor supporting our troops.

Our commitment should be to those families and veterans who need the full measure of our support. Our gratitude should be measured in real resources for veterans and not empty platitudes and political rhetoric expounded to justify the irreparable failures of policy in Iraq.

It is long past time to bring our troops home.

White House Interim Report on Iraq

The Administration continues to make vague references to "progress" without any indication of what those tangible gains are and without any confidence that they can be sustained or that any real gains will be made.

Recently, the Bush Administration released the interim report to Congress on the results of troop escalation and the progress on “benchmarks” included in the last Iraq Supplemental.

The interim report shows that no progress has been made on half the benchmarks, and the validity and significance of the claims on the others are either transparently false or highly questionable.

In January of this year, President Bush doubled down on his wager in Iraq with tens of thousands more US troops. He said “America will hold the Iraqi government to the benchmarks it has announced.” The lack of progress shown in this report holds the President to the accountability he promised.

By the Bush Administration’s own admission, there is unsatisfactory progress on all of the political reconciliation benchmarks announced by the President on January 10, 2007. The Iraqi Government has failed to:

• Amend the Constitution
• Change the law so millions of former members of the Baath Party can obtain government jobs
• Pass an equitable oil sharing law
• Hold provincial elections
  

This report makes it clear that this nation can no longer continue with the same approach. We cannot let another soldier die based on this President’s flawed judgment.

The bottom line of this report is nothing more than the President's stay-the-course strategy repackaged.

Legislation to Bring Our Troops Home

Recently, the House voted for the responsible redeployment of our troops and a refocusing of our efforts on protecting Americans from terrorism.

This resolution stands up for the American forces and the American people. It requires a redeployment of American forces, a development of a comprehensive strategy for U.S. policy in Iraq and limits missions any remaining forces in Iraq may undertake.

The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act [H.R. 2956]:

• Redeployment Must Begin within 120 Days of Enactment.
  The bill would require the Secretary of Defense to begin the redeployment of troops from Iraq within 120 days of the date of enactment and to complete the “reduction and transition to a limited presence” by April 1, 2008.
• Safe and Orderly Redeployment Must Emphasize Troop Protection.
  The bill would require that the redeployment be conducted in a safe and orderly manner with maximum attention to ensuring the safety of our troops during the redeployment.
• Comprehensive Iraq Strategy Required.
  The bill would require the President to prepare and submit to Congress a comprehensive strategy for Iraq by January 1, 2008.  The report would include:
• A discussion of U.S. national security interests in Iraq, the broader Middle East region, and the diplomatic, political, economic, and military components of a comprehensive strategy to maintain and advance such interests as the Armed Forces are redeployed from Iraq.
• A justification of the minimum force levels required to protect U.S. national security interests in Iraq after April 1, 2008, including (a) a description of the specific missions of the Armed Forces to be undertaken, (b) the projected number of Armed Forces necessary to carry out the missions, (c) the projected annual cost of the missions and (d) the expected duration of the missions.
• As part of the justification, the President would be required, at a minimum, to address whether it is necessary for the Armed Forces to carry out the following missions: (a) protecting U.S. diplomatic facilities and U.S. citizens, including members of the Armed Forces who are engaged in carrying out other missions, (b) serving in roles consistent with customary diplomatic positions, (c) engaging in actions to disrupt and eliminate al-Qaeda and its affiliated organizations in Iraq, and (d) training and equipping members of the Iraqi Security Forces.
• Finally, the President would be required to lay out specific diplomatic initiatives to engage U.S. allies and others in the region to bring stability to Iraq.
• Regular Strategy and Progress Updates Required.
  The bill would require the President to transmit to Congress an update to the comprehensive strategy for Iraq not later than July 1, 2008 and every 90 days thereafter, including a description of the number of Armed Forces deployed to Iraq and the missions for which such Armed Forces are deployed.
• Openness and Transparency Required for Strategy.
  The bill would further require that the comprehensive strategy and any updates thereof be transmitted to Congress in unclassified form, although the bill does permit the inclusion of a classified annex to the reports.

This bill is consistent with the advice of military and foreign policy experts, ensures the safety of our men and women in uniform, addresses our commitment to fighting terrorism, and reflects the will of the American people.

The Cost of War

In its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers $450 billion and new reports indicate that America spends $10 billion per month on the war in Iraq. To date, more than 3,600 Americans have lost their lives in Iraq and more than 26,000 have been wounded.

A new Congressional Research Service report finds that the increase in troop levels in Iraq has raised the cost of the war there from $8 billion a month to $10 billion a month, higher than the Pentagon’s estimates. The CRS report notes that the war in Iraq has already cost $450 billion.

Taxpayers in Arizona will pay $6.3 billion for the cost of the Iraq War through 2007. For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:

• 1,382,216 People with Health Care or
• 145,496 Elementary School Teachers or
• 803,738 Head Start Places for Children or
• 2,710,147 Children with Health Care or
• 47,796 Affordable Housing Units or
• 476 New Elementary Schools or
• 1,395,769 Scholarships for University Students or
• 136,260 Music and Arts Teachers or
• 148,904 Public Safety Officers or
• 5,378,602 Homes with Renewable Electricity or
• 75,098 Port Container Inspectors

Much needed funds for Education, Health Care, our towns and cities and investments in our people have been squandered in Iraq. This war is a financial, strategic and moral disaster for this nation. The costs to our nation and the violence in the region are real, and will only increase the longer our men and women remain in Iraq.

The focus of our criticism in this debate is not centered on our soldiers who are nobly doing their duty and following their orders. It is directed at those who have designed this flawed policy and who have produced a war without end, with no plan for success or exit, with no international strategy, who now turn to a desperate and doomed escalation that only reinforces the failure and desperation of those policy makers.

It is time for a responsible redeployment that will strengthen our efforts to protect Americans from terrorism and enable us to develop a new strategy for greater stability in the Middle East.