Washington, DC -- Congressman Neil Abercrombie made the following statement today in response to President Bush’s speech on Iraq:

“Our troops deserve every word of praise they received from the president tonight.  Their bravery and devotion to duty is something we can all agree on.

“The ultimate question is not the quality of their service, but whether we have a policy worthy of their sacrifices.  The president is right in saying that Iraqis themselves will have the final say in their country’s destiny.  To get to that point, responsibility for security needs to shift from U.S. troops to Iraqi security forces.  Like any policy proposed in seriousness, the transfer must have a plan and at some point a timetable for implementation.  The sooner the president develops a timetable for training and equipping the Iraqi army and police to do the job on their own, the sooner our troops will be homeward bound.

“The president tried to make his case tonight for staying the present course without a timetable for bringing the troops home.  Whether he has been persuasive will be reflected in military recruiting figures in the coming months.” 

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