“Our men and women in uniform have done an impressive job performing increasingly difficult missions in Iraq.  Unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld has not made their work any easier by repeatedly refusing to adapt to changing conditions on the ground.  The operational conditions in Iraq have taken a heavy toll on our military equipment, and multiple deployments of troops to the region have harmed our military’s readiness to respond to other crises.  Secretary Rumsfeld has ignored the urgency of this problem, and unless we make significant changes soon, we run the risk of doing serious long-term damage to our armed forces. 

“At this point, sectarian violence is killing approximately 100 Iraqis per day, and our troops are caught in the crossfire.  The U.S. military must not become involved in a civil war, yet the Administration has refused repeated calls to start redeploying our forces out of Iraq.  The status quo is not acceptable, and Secretary Rumsfeld’s resignation would indicate that the United States is serious about taking a new course – one that recognizes that we need to draw down our forces in Iraq and instead pursue aggressive international diplomatic efforts to address ethnic and religious tensions in Iraq.” 

"Secretary Rumsfeld was a key architect of the war in Iraq, and he has mismanaged it from the start.  Instead of enhancing our national security as he promised, the conflict has led to an overstretched military, frayed alliances, and the prospect of civil war in an important global region.  I have stated that 2006 should be a year of transition of security responsibility from U.S. forces to the Iraqis, but Secretary Rumsfeld has not heard that message.  We need new leadership at the Pentagon so that we can bring our troops home as quickly and safely as possible."

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