From Barbara Boxer: Gen. Petraeus, take off the rose-colored glasses!

[babylonsister]

Yesterday, General David Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to deliver their report on the war in Iraq. It was a very somber hearing, and I did my best to convey our strong opposition to the President's war in Iraq.

To hear General Petraeus tell it, you'd think things were on the right track. But let's face facts: This has been the bloodiest summer for U.S. forces in Iraq since the war began -- and despite the hard work and sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform, the Iraqi government has met only 3 of the 18 benchmarks that they agreed to over a year ago.

This war is the biggest foreign policy mistake ever. President Bush took our nation's eye off defeating the terrorists, led by Osama bin Laden, who killed thousands of Americans six years ago. We have lost thousands of American lives, thousands more have been wounded, and our military and our national guard and their families are being strained to the breaking point.

It's time for President Bush and General Petraeus to take off their rose-colored glasses. Once again, they tell us that everything is going well, but a recent BBC/ABC News poll showed that 79% of Iraqis oppose the presence of American troops in Iraq, and 70% of Iraqis think that President Bush's "surge" has made them less secure.

As General Petraeus told the Boston Globe in November 2003, "We want to be seen as an army of liberation and not an army of occupation...There is a half-life on our role here, you wear out your welcome at some point. It doesn't matter how helpful you are. We aren't here to stay."

It's time for President Bush, Congress, and General Petraeus to heed those wise words.

We are sending our troops into a country where they're not wanted, into the middle of a civil war, into the middle of the mother of all foreign policy mistakes, with no end in sight.

Next week, the Senate will have another chance to begin bringing our troops home. I'm going to continue fighting as hard as I can to end the war -- and I'll be asking for your help to do just that. Stay tuned.

No more rose-colored glasses. We must end this war.

In Friendship,



Barbara Boxer
U.S. Senator

[spanone]

1. K&R

[againes654]

2. K&R

[Bobbieo]

3. Senator Boxer - ending the war begins with you.

Convince Congress to stop funding this illegal war - it is that simple.
No more money - no more war. Use those funds to bring the troops home.

[Possumpoint]

4. Half Life?

That was withing 60 days of the end of the invasion. We then started being on the receiving end of attacks. We failed the Iraqi on so many fronts. We failed to stop the looting. We failed to halt crime. We failed to start the reconstruction immediately. We didn't have enough troops on the ground and continued to expect to be handed roses. Send your thanks to Rumsfeld, the Sec Def, AKA AH. We trusted the wrong Iraqis from the get go and are still paying the price.

Thanks GWB, you and your henchmen have put us between a rock and a hard place. You were wrong from the get go and still are. I don't care what any general says. Get us out of Iraq and let them fix the problem.

[superkia]

5. If it continues which most likely it will....

we need to band together as Democrats and figure out which candidate is most likely to follow through and end the killing of innocent Americans and Iraqis. We the people do have a say and most likely it will be in our hands when the primaries come around. Hopefully everyone will take a moment to think of the families, put ourselves in their shoes and vote to end this madness? Otherwise we may just be the ones enabling another president to continue killing people for money, thats all this is. Not war!

[WhiteTara]

6. This is MY senator! Go Barbara

Now we need about 59 more just like her