(Washington, DC)— Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (CA-33rd) released the following statement on the President’s prime time address tonight on Iraq:

“On the occasion of the first anniversary of elections in Iraq, the majority of American people are expressing serious doubt about the wisdom of our nation’s involvement.  To date, President Bush has failed to outline a clear winning strategy.  He continues to push on the American people a vague and indefinite time line for commitment of our men and women in Iraq.  The clearest expression of the administration’s policy can only be summed up this way: stay tuned for more of the same.

“Our country has already paid a heavy price for this war: more than 1,700 American soldiers have been killed, more than 13,000 wounded, and more than $200 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars spent.  What we have is an open-ended commitment without any benchmarks where the American people can measure the success of our policy in Iraq and allow us to bring our troops home.  The Bush administration  now faces the danger of adopting by default a so-called “tar baby” option, where the more the U.S. tries to disengage itself from Iraq, the more bogged down it becomes. 

“The biggest problem with our endless occupation of Iraq is that it undermines our leadership on issues that do threaten the United States: North Korean and Iranian nuclear weapons, global terrorism, and emerging deadly international diseases.  All these issues are imminent threats we must confront.  Our ability to convince other nations to join us in boldly facing these threats has been hobbled by our deceptive entry into Iraq and our lingering departure from it.

“It’s time for the President to level with the American people and offer an honest plan for improving security in Iraq and bringing our troops home.”