“General Dwight Eisenhower said that ‘no one can defeat us unless we first defeat ourselves.’  I fear that is exactly what we are doing with the passage of this legislation.  Over the 4th of July holiday, I was in Pakistan and Iraq with our troops. What I heard and saw there reinforces the need, in my mind, that we must allow our generals on the ground to do their jobs without needless political meddling from Congress. 

The surge of American reinforcements to Iraq which was approved by Congress in May, reached full strength only 3 weeks ago.  We must give it a chance to work.  Congress cannot hamstring our soldiers and commanders with a withdrawal deadline right at the time that they are making progress against insurgents and foreign terrorists in Iraq.

We cannot afford to give the terrorists a blueprint for our withdrawal from Iraq.  A retreat is one of the most dangerous maneuvers a military can make while in combat.  This legislation contains no plan at all to deal with the safe removal of 160,000 soldiers and over 100,000 civilians from Iraq. 

President Bush has indicated his intention to veto this legislation if it arrives at his desk. I encourage him to do so.”