Pacific NW leaders respond to Bush on Iraq

George W. Bush's insistence on waiting another Friedman Unit or two (or maybe three...four...five...) has drawn condemnation this week from Pacific Northwest leaders. First, here's Jay Inslee, who represents Washington's 1st District.

The president is playing a shell game. He wants Americans to think he’s drawing down forces in Iraq, when in reality he’s staying on the same, failed course. Reducing troop levels by 30,000 is not part of some master plan; it’s a necessity because our armed forces are stretched thin and cannot sustain surge levels.

This so-called strategy puts us right back at square one – with 130,000 men and women on the ground in Iraq with no end in sight. We need more than a reduction to pre-surge troop levels; we need to start an orderly redeployment of U.S. forces. The American people, and especially U.S. troops, deserve a lot more than a shell game.

We can’t allow President Bush to just keep kicking the can down the road. His Six-Month Syndrome – asking for another six months every six months – is costing too many American lives.

Larry LaRocco, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Idaho:

As an Army veteran and a Congressman who voted against the Gulf War in 1991, I have opposed the Iraq War from the outset. After more than four years, many tho us ands dead and injured and billions of dollars of debt, it’s long past time for Congress to re-assert its authority over the cost of the war.

According to the Center for American Progress report in June 2007, the first Gulf War cost $92.8 billion. The current cost of the Iraq War is estimated to be $566 billion compared to $600 billion for World War II and $652 billion for the Vietnam War. These figures do not include the costs of veteran’s benefits, health and disability costs that most experts estimate will exceed a trillion dollars

At a minimum, Congress ought to enact legislation now to change the military mission in Iraq as called for by the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group. Beyond that, I support a significant and immediate draw down of forces in Iraq. The U.S. cannot afford to sustain the current level of troop deployment for years without end.

Ultimately, the Iraqi people must decide to end the violence. Vietnam taught us that internal wars cannot be suppressed by outside forces. And we must be mindful that the Iraq War could spread beyond its borders to Iran and elsewhere.

Congress must act now and not wait for the next President to bring the Iraq War under control.

Darcy Burner, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House, WA-08:

I have one question for President Bush, General Petraeus, Congressman Reichert, and our other leaders in Washington, D.C.: when will it end?

Publicly, yet again, they are asking for six more months. Six months ago they asked for six more months. Six months before that they wanted six more months. We are now learning that Bush administration plans to not even end the surge until August of next year, and will keep some 130,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely. Privately, the Bush administration is telling allies like Congressman Reichert that with their support they expect to keep the war going for another decade.

That is outrageous and unacceptable. The deaths in Iraq of nine more of our brave men and women in uniform was announced today. We have already squandered $450 billion for this misguided war. So I ask again: when will it end?

I suspect that is really a trick question, because the American people are realizing that President Bush and Congressman Reichert have no intention to bringing this war to a responsible close. If we let them, President Bush, Congressman Reichert and those who think like they do will keep this war going forever.

Unfortunately, taking full advantage of a credulous inside-the-Beltway media establishment, they have succeeded for now – yet again – in turning the D.C. debate into how long the surge should continue.

That is not what ordinary Americans want. For them, it is not about the surge, it is about the war. This is the only real question: do we want to end the war, or do want to continue it for another five or ten years?

I stand for bringing the war to a responsible close. Congressman Reichert stands for dragging it on and on and on and on even as it tears apart our military, breeds new terrorists and destroys our reputation around the world.

Yes, ending this war may take some time to complete, because extricating ourselves from Iraq is going to be a complicated operation. We have to do this right, in a way that preserves American interests as much as possible, keeps our troops as safe as possible and gives the Iraqis the best possible chance to create a stable government in our absence. But no more excuses, no more delays -- we need to start now.

So I join the American people in asking a simple question. And we are going to keep asking it, until we get a straight answer from President Bush and Congressman Reichert.

When will it end?

Jeff Merkely, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Oregon:

Despite all evidence to the contrary, President Bush and his top advisers continue to insist the escalation of the Iraq war is a prescription for success. It is mind boggling just how disconnected from reality this administration really is.

And despite his efforts to remake his record, Gordon Smith voted for this escalation and is just as responsible as George Bush for the ongoing debacle in Iraq.

Unfortunately, there are no good options in Iraq.

Lasting peace will only be achieved when the Iraqi government makes the political decisions needed to bring the Iraqi civil war to an end; and when the Bush Administration engages in diplomacy with Iraq's neighbors in the region, including Syria and Iran.

Congress has never granted the president the authority to use our troops to police a civil war in Iraq. And they shouldn't. It is time to bring our troops home, and we should start today. If the president won't exercise his duty as commander-in-chief to bring an end to this war, Congress should do it for him.

Our thanks to these and other fine Democrats for standing up to the administration and its allies. This occupation has been a failure, a quagmire, and a mistake. It is time to bring it to an end. If this Congress (which is not nearly Democratic enough) will not do that, it is time to send new leadership to our nation's capitol that has the courage to act.