Doug Denneny's (D VA 11 Candidate) Comments on Today's Iraq Troop Numbers

By: Doug Denneny for Congress VA 11th
Published On: 2/25/2008 11:18:22 PM

Here is the lead paragraph of an article from the AP today entitled, After surge, 140,000 troops to remain in Iraq:

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon is projecting that when the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq is over in July there will be about 8,000 more troops on the ground than when the buildup began in January 2007, a senior general said Monday.

That will bring us up to 140,000, from a pre-surge starting point of 132,000 in 2007.  So just for fun, let's assume this summer the Bush administration calls for another surge.  If it is as successful as this one, we'll ramp back up to 180,000 or so troops,  then in the summer of 2009, we'll reduce back down to 148,000.   And then in 2010, we'll surge again and reduce back down to 156,000.  If we hang around for a hundred years as a Republican presidential contender said, maybe we'll reduce it down to 140,000 plus 8000 times 100, only 940,000 troops by 2108!  Now that's what I call progress in Iraq!
Now, I know that was a little far-fetched, but let's think about this.

Remember the Bush line, "when they stand up, we'll stand down."   Looks like the only folks that are standing up are our troops.  Where is the outrage?  What is our strategy here?  Our men and women fought for the Iraqis' "breathing space" and ... silence.  No political concessions from the Iraqi government.  No power sharing. Nothing, nada, zip.  All we have today is Turkey invading Iraq from the north and a carbomb killing 40 people in the south.
Why change when Uncle Sugar has your back?

We'll surge, lose a lot of American's lives, wound thousands more, and then return to a pre-surge number plus 8,000?  Are we on a path to victory?  Of course not, because, as I've always said,

The U.S. military can't end the war in Iraq, it is up to the Iraqi politicians to change the course and end the war in Iraq.

But from the Bush administration, same old same old.  They don't get it.   We must force the Iraqi politicians to make tough choices and concessions, we shouldn't make U.S. troops suck up 15 month tours in Iraq.  We need to give the Iraqi politicians "tough love" and tell them the U.S. troops are not staying around forever (or increasing in number).

We've got Americans that are putting their skin in this game, and it's not a game.  It's life and death for them and their families.   I'll never forget missing every holiday in 2002 getting ready for our deployment to Iraq in 2002-2003.  I'll never forget my young son crying in my arms, knowing that his daddy was going to go off in harms way for a very long time.  I'll never forget the jubilation of being shot at and not getting hit.

We need to begin a tough love program now.  We need to bring our troops out in a smart, phased withdrawal and force the Iraqi leaders to stand up and make the tough decisions.

As your next Congressman, I vow to fight for our troops, as hard as they are fighting for us.
Will you join me in my fight?

I'm going to be your next Congressman from Virginia's 11th Congressional District, but I'll need your help.  Please check out my website at dougforcongress.com and contribute and volunteer.  We've got a great campaign going and I'd love to have you join our team.  We're going to bring change and results because,

I'm ready to serve.  Again.

I look forward to answering and hearing your comments.  I'll get to them over the next day.
Take care,

Doug Denneny

Candidate, U.S. House of Representatives
Virginia's 11th Congressional District
info@dougforcongress.com
www.dougforcongress.com

Comments



Feel free to jump in with questions or comments, Thx, - Doug (Doug Denneny for Congress VA 11th - 2/25/2008 11:25:54 PM)