Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
Issues
Iraq
Inslee on Iraq Progress Report
10 September 2007
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), who voted against the war in Iraq almost five years ago, released the following statement in response to much anticipated testimony given in the House today by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker on progress in Iraq.
"Whether we leave in six weeks, six months or six more years, the result is going to be the same - a result decided by Iraqis. We've got to get over the Six-Month Syndrome - that if we just stay another six months with another 600 American soldiers dead, that somehow democracy suddenly will blossom in Iraq."
"We may have had a reduction in violence in some parts of Iraq, but we haven't advanced in solving difference between Shiites and Sunnis in the last six months or five years. No amount of the administration's smoke and mirrors can hide one fundamental fact: that there hasn't been political reconciliation in Iraq, just a continuation of the president's ruinous policies.
"No matter how effective our military is, it cannot solve the political problems in Iraq. The destiny of Iraq cannot be decided by American soldiers - it only can be determined by the Iraqi people and their leaders. Only Iraqis can forge political compromises necessary for long-term success. That's why we need a timetable for redeployment in an orderly fashion."