John Conyers: Petraeus Shouldn't Delay Us

[babylonsister]

http://www.johnconyers.com/node/155

Petraeus Shouldn't Delay Us
Submitted by JC on September 14, 2007 - 10:39pm.

General David Petraeus' testimony before the House and Senate earlier this week smacked of the politically divisive and dilatory tactics that have dominated the Iraq War debate since it began.

General Petraeus' honesty, integrity, and competence are not at issue. At issue are our military's continued presence in Iraq and the ceaseless series of blunders that President Bush has made there. And while my Republican colleagues seem more concerned with an ad from MoveOn.Org than with General Petraeus' actual testimony (you can view the ad on MoveOn's web site http://pol.moveon.org/petraeus.html and the Petraeus hearings themselves on C-Span's web site at http://www.c-span.org/homepage.asp?Cat=Current_Event&Code=Iraq&ShowVidNum=24&Rot_Cat_CD=US_Iraq&Rot_HT=&Rot_WD=&ShowVidDays=365&ShowVidDesc=&ArchiveDays=30), the case that the General made for continuing the war was paltry, at best.

Congress was subjected to yet another round of testimony that, instead of tracking reality, tracked the President's talking points. Once again, we are being told to wait and see. We are being told to wait and see until Spring 2008 before we make critical decisions about troop withdrawals and our diplomatic strategy in the Middle East. We don't need to wait to see, for what we have seen while we've been waiting is more than enough. This summer has been the bloodiest summer of the war, and the Iraqi government has met a mere three of the eighteen benchmarks that they agreed to meet last year (you can read the report from the Government Accountability Office at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071220t.pdf).

In the wake of the sixth anniversary of September 11th, I am ashamed that my government is mired in a war that has made us less safe from terrorism; that has distracted us from our commitment to secure the nation and respond to man-made and natural disaster; and that has robbed so many American families of their children, siblings, and parents. Victory in Iraq will come when we have taken Americans out of harm's way. Victory in Iraq will come when we empower the Iraqis with the responsibility of governing themselves. The time for victory is now.

[ScooterFibby]

1. Yes, absolutely, we should win by getting out.

Republicans have made withdrawal a win-lose proposition. But Conyers frames withdrawal as a win. Perfect. It's not our country. Win by leaving.

[Trillo]

2. Conyer's statement is much more nuanced and

diplomatic than moveon.org's ad.

Still, a number of us in the great unwashed masses have trouble understanding plain-hammer English, never mind nuance!