Press Releases
Contact:
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
For Immediate Release
09/11/2007
Pelosi: President’s Policy is a Path to 10 More Years of War in Iraq
Washington, D.C.
– Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after meeting at
the White House with President Bush on Iraq:
"President Bush’s policy announced by General Petraeus
is a path to 10 more years of war in Iraq. General Petraeus’ testimony to Congress drew
a bright line: redeployment is not an option; endless war in Iraq is the
Administration's only option.
"Under the Bush plan, 130,000 Americans will remain in
harm’s way in Iraq
at a cost of hundreds of billions of additional taxpayer dollars. This status quo policy was rejected by
General James Jones, whose recent report stated that significant force
reductions are possible and that we must reduce our military footprint in Iraq.
"The Bush-Petraeus plan of 130,000 Americans in Iraq for 10
more years is not a reduction in our footprint; it is an insult to the
intelligence of the American people to call that a new direction. It is a status quo plan that tells the Iraqi
government that they do not need to change.
"The American people long ago rejected the President’s
plan to stay in Iraq,
which is why they voted for a New Direction in 2006. Yet, with his veto pen and the 60-vote hurdle
in the Senate, the President is preventing the redeployment of our troops, the rebuilding
of our military, and the refocusing of our nation’s efforts on fighting
terrorism."