Washington, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) released the following statement in response to today’s last-minute, politically-motivated Republican resolution regarding Iraq (H. Res. 612). Republicans did not allow any amendments or substantive debate on the resolution. Because Larsen did not believe the resolution should be voted on at all, he voted ‘present.’ The resolution passed with a vote of 279 “yes” votes, 109 “no” votes and 34 “present” votes.

“I join with my colleagues in commending the Iraqi people and our U.S. military on this week’s successful Iraqi election. However, I differ with my Republican colleagues on how we should honor their efforts.

“I believe that the best way for Congress to honor the men and women in the U.S. military who helped make this happen is by focusing on the work at hand, not on pat-ourselves-on-the-back political resolutions that do nothing to get the job done in Iraq.

“The work at hand is the militarily-achievable objective of putting Iraqis in the front seat of Iraqi security and moving our U.S. soldiers to the back seat.

“However, the Bush Administration has continually moved the goal line for military victory in Iraq, resulting in its failure to define militarily-achievable objectives for the men and women of the U.S. military.

“Originally, the Bush Administration proclaimed its primary military objective in Iraq was to find and destroy weapons of mass destruction, but there were none to find or destroy.  Instead, our troops found an unexpected and unplanned-for Iraqi-driven insurgency that has become the greatest threat to the security of our troops in the region.

“I strongly believe that we cannot have a long-term military presence in Iraq and no permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq. Instead, we must focus our military efforts on locating and defeating terrorists and terrorist groups around the world.  In Iraq we need to focus on the militarily-achievable objective of training Iraqi military and police with the express goal of putting Iraqis out front in countering the Iraqi insurgency.

“Today, the U.S. military is training Iraqi military and police and simultaneously fighting an Iraqi-based, Iraqi-driven insurgency that is responsible for 80 percent of attacks on U.S. troops.  We have to continue to train Iraqi security forces, but we cannot fight an Iraqi civil war. 

“I agree with U.S. military commanders who have stated that the Iraqis, and not the U.S. military, are ultimately responsible for a successful Iraq.  The U.S. should help the new Iraqi government develop a diplomatic foundation by bringing together regional neighbors and regional and international organizations to further assist in reconstruction and diplomatic efforts.

“As we meet these militarily-achievable objectives, the U.S. can then soon begin a systematic drawdown of U.S. troop presence in Iraq. We must combine that drawdown with a strategic redeployment of U.S. military to areas throughout the region in order to continue our foothold and fight against terrorists and terrorist groups and respond to any degradation of Iraqi security or stability.

“Importantly, that systematic drawdown also means that we can bring home more of our women and men more quickly.

“Today’s resolution represents the exact opposite of what the American people want.  My constituents want answers and results, not partisan bickering over something as important as the war in Iraq.  For this reason I did not dignify this resolution with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.”

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