Dean: Dems will pressure for Iraq timetables; Kerry timetable the best solution

[ProSense]

No fast U.S. shift on Iraq if Democrats win: Dean

By Philip Barbara Sun Oct 29, 2:33 PM ET

Snip...

Countering Republican campaign charges that Democrats would "cut and run" from Iraq, chairman Howard Dean said the party did not believe there should be a sudden pullout of all U.S. troops.

"The president will still be in charge of foreign policy and the military ... I don't imagine we're going to be able to force the president to reverse his course," he told the CBS "Face the Nation" program.

"But we will put some pressure on him to have some benchmarks, some timetables and a real plan other than stay the course," he added.

Snip...

So far, 99 U.S. troops have died in Iraq in October, the worse monthly total in nearly two years. If the death toll reaches 100, it will be an unwanted, headline-making milestone just before election day.

Snip...

Democratic Rep. John Murtha (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania, a former Marine who had supported the war but who drew Bush's ire a year ago by calling for a troop withdrawal, disagreed that Iraq would become a terrorists haven if U.S. forces leave.

"I think it is the opposite. I think there is more terrorism throughout the world, and all of the polls indicate this," Murtha said on the Fox program. "The Iraqis believe this, the people in the periphery of Iraq believe that and the American public believes the same thing."

more...

U.S. military death toll in Iraq climbs to 100

Audit finds missing U.S. weapons in Iraq

This is Baghdad. What could be worse?

McCain: Send 20,000 more troops to Iraq

KERRY: A year from now? That's not an abandonment. Are you telling me that, a year from now, after all this administration has said about standing up and, while they stand up, we'll stand down -- that was a lie.

They said, as they stand up, we'll stand down. Well, we're now at about 320,000 troops trained. That's not going to make the difference. Either they resolve the political differences within this year because they want to, or they don't want to.

If they don't want to, there's nothing American troops can do. If they do resolve it, so much the better, and our troops can withdraw.

Setting a date for a year from now is not waving a flag of surrender. And I resent the president of the United States suggesting that. It is, in fact, the best way to protect our troops.

It's the best way to solve the problem. It's the best way to regain our moral authority in the region. It's the best way to be successful. It's the best way to protect America's security.

KERRY-FEINGOLD: A DEADLINE FOR IRAQ

We began an important fight because together we know the time has come for a Congress that shares responsibility for getting us into Iraq to take responsibility for helping to get us out. We know it is not enough to argue with details or logistics, with the manner of the conflict’s execution or the failures of competence, as great as they are. It is essential to fight to set a date to withdraw American forces.

That’s why this June with Russ Feingold, we fought for an up or down vote on the Kerry-Feingold amendment to withdraw US combat forces from Iraq by July 1, 2007. We made it clear that our soldiers have done their job. It is time for Iraqis to do their job – it’s time for Iraqis to stand up for Iraq. It’s time for Iraqis to want democracy for themselves as much as we want it for them. Click here to read our plan.

Hundreds of thousands of you in the johnkerry.com community have shown your support for our plan for Iraq. You signed our petition and urged your Senators to stand with us. With your help, we stood up to the Bush Administration’s aimless and failed course in Iraq.

On June 22, 2006 the Senate voted on the Kerry-Feingold amendment. Thirteen courageous Senators stood with us, and we want to thank them for their leadership:

Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI)
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), co-sponsor
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Sen. James Jeffords (I-VT)
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), co-sponsor
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR)

The fight is not over until we have changed course in Iraq. November 7th will be a day of reckoning for the administration’s broken course in Iraq.

[Mass]

1. He is stating the obvious - The executive is responsible for defining

the strategy.

All we can hope is that they will have to listen to what the Democrats will say and think about it.

But good for Dean to say it, as the GOP is using that argument as a scare tactics. Too often, Democrats ignore the obvious.

[ProSense]

2. Dean is correct!

Iraq is the biggest issue in the election, but it doesn't go away after Nov. 7th.