“America is spending $12 billion every month on the war in Iraq.  It protects our troops, it provides supplies, it builds Iraqi institutions, it brings us closer to the resolution of a war that has come full circle from a military offensive against Saddam Hussein to a counterinsurgency mission on troubled streets. 

There is one reality Congress and the American people must face: we cannot stay in Iraq indefinitely.  At some point, there must be fewer American troops in Iraq rather than more.  It is time to start thinking about the pivot point.  The U.S. Senators of both parties who have said this in the last few weeks are right, we need a change in direction.

The Iraqi Study Group anticipated this pivot point in December by telling Congress and the country: “Our most important recommendations call for new and enhanced diplomatic and political efforts in Iraq and the region, and a change in the primary mission of U.S. forces in Iraq that will enable the United States to begin to move its combat forces out of Iraq responsibly.”

Let’s be clear – this is a question of strategy, it is relatively agreed-upon, and it represents the best chance to achieve a positive result in Iraq.  An intelligent course of action relies on a three-legged stool of military, political, and diplomatic support.

Unilateral withdrawal is unacceptable.  That course of action would cost us diplomatic credibility in the Middle East and hurt the Iraqi people nearly as badly as it would hurt the U.S. military.

Staying in Iraq indefinitely is equally unacceptable.  At some point, Iraq must be responsible for its own future.  They need to get this message now, today, so they get moving with the same urgency as our men and women in uniform.

 
The middle ground requires that we make plans now to redeploy some of our forces from Iraq in the visible future, not tomorrow, but eventually and in stages.

I have gotten so much feedback on the issue of the War in Iraq from citizens of the Eighth Congressional District – from every conceivable point of view.  I’ve done my best to answer every letter with the best information I can give.  I very much appreciate the heartfelt, the thoughtful, and the compassionate correspondence, phone calls and e-mails I’ve received on all sides of this important issue of our time.  I can only say, whether we agree or disagree, that in trying to keep our country and our soldiers as safe as possible, I am working very hard as your representative in Congress to find that middle ground, the most sensible course of action.  Like everyone who has written to me or left comments which I have read, I care deeply about this often divisive issue.

Do I support our troops?  You bet I do.  One of my children has served in Iraq, and another one will go early next year.  I’ve visited our troops from Missouri in Baghdad.  I’ve seen them at send-off ceremonies, welcome home celebrations, in hospitals in Germany and at funerals in Southern Missouri.

Our servicemen and servicewomen are magnificent – the most dedicated, talented, and patriotic in the world.  But without diplomacy, without the courage of the Iraqi government, and without a plan to shift this conflict from being primarily a military one, they are increasingly isolated in Iraq.  We cannot place the burden solely on their shoulders.”