Richardson Blogs: The Surge Has Failed; No Residual Troops

[BuyingThyme]

Gov. Bill Richardson
The Surge Has Failed; No Residual Troops

Posted August 24, 2007 | 03:37 PM (EST)


On Wednesday, in a desperate attempt to shore up support for his failed "surge" strategy, President Bush compared a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq to America's withdrawal at the end of the Vietnam War. The president is wrong. We don't need anymore troop surges we need a diplomatic surge.

In 1968, Richard Nixon ran on a platform of ending the war with honor. It took 7 years to get the last American soldier out of Vietnam. In the meantime, tens of thousands more Americans died. Countless civilians died in Vietnam, in Cambodia and the killing fields, and millions more ultimately had to flee their homes

Dragging out the process of withdrawal will be tragically worse in terms of U.S. lives lost and in terms of the instability we will create by staying longer.

We have now been in Iraq longer than it took to win World War II. My plan for Iraq ends the war with the fewest possible U.S. casualties and it moves the Iraqis' reconciliation process forward. My position has been consistent and unwavering.

We have to get all of our troops out as quickly and safely as possible and leave no residual troops behind.


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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-bill-richardson/the-surge-has-failed-no-_b_61726.html

[saracat]

1. Bill has got this right!