Moran Statement on Responsible Redeployment of Troops from IraqWashington, D.C., July 12th - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives considered legislation, (H.R. 2956) the "Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act" which sets a timetable to bring our troops home from Iraq. Below is the Congressman's statement on the bill, which passed 223 to 201.
"The Iraq war has been the worst foreign policy fiasco in American history.
"After four years we have lost over 3,600 American soldiers, 600,000 innocent Iraqis have died and we are spending $10 billion a month. In that time, conditions on the ground in most of the country have only gotten worse.
"According to the White House report released yesterday, the Iraqi government failed to meet any of the political benchmarks set by Congress earlier this year. Clearly, the Iraqi government cannot or will not do what is necessary to reconcile their internal differences. The American people cannot be expected to continue sending their sons and daughters to risk life and limb defending a broken government.
"The current Iraq policy is not worthy of the sacrifice of our troops and their military families. It is leading us down a dead end street. It is time for a change.
"The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act is that new direction, bringing our brave men and women home within a year. Doing so will allow our military to reset so go after the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, the Taliban in Afghanistan and al Qaeda."
By the way, guess who voted against the "Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act"? That's right, Eric Cantor, Tom Davis, Thelma Drake, Randy Forbes, Virgil Goode, Bob Goodlatte, and Frank Wolf. Note the appearance of two supposed "moderates," Tom Davis and Frank Wolf, on that list? Apparently, neither of whom give a crap what the voters told them loud and clear this past November with regard to Iraq. Also, note the presence of Thelma Drake, who was last seen literally RUNNING AWAY from a veteran. You can't make this stuff up!
?Today?s Benchmark Assessment Report on Iraq is essentially the White House giving itself a report card. The real news is that our government?s top counter-terrorism experts believe that the threat of Al Qaeda is as high today as it was in 2001.?I and many others with long experience in national security affairs warned well before the invasion of Iraq that the invasion and occupation of that country would mire the United States in an unnecessary war rather than allow us to address the greater concern of international terrorism. We are seeing the inevitable result of that failed strategy. It remains vitally important that we focus on a diplomatic solution in Iraq that will allow us to remove our military from that country and to address other strategic requirements, including the global threat of terrorism."