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McNULTY TO SUPPORT BIPARTISAN IRAQ
WITHDRAWAL BILL
Congressman Reiterates Strong Support for Troops;
Urges President to Re-Focus on Osama bin Laden & al-Qaeda
(Albany, New York): -- Congressman Michael R. McNulty (D-Green Island) today released the following statement:
Today, I announce my support for legislation to require that U.S. troops begin their withdrawal from Iraq by October 2006, and that the president announce his plan for troop withdrawal by the end of this year.
When I return to Washington today, I will add my name to the growing list of forty-five bipartisan cosponsors of House Joint Resolution 55, the “Withdrawal of United States Armed Forces From Iraq Resolution of 2005 – Homeward Bound,” which was introduced in June by Representative Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), a member of the House Armed Services Committee.
Let me emphasize at the outset how proud I am of all the members of the Armed Forces of the United States. They continue to put their lives on the line, every day, in order to protect and promote the interests of our great country. They have always had my strong support – and they always will.
Today, two and a half years after the invasion of Iraq, and more than two years since President Bush declared, “Mission Accomplished," more than 16,000 Americans have been killed or wounded, and over $200 billion has been appropriated for this war.
Four years after the worst terrorist attack in the history of our country, we’ve made these sacrifices to remove from power someone who had nothing to do with the attacks of 9/11/01, while the person who DID attack us is alive, free, and openly planning another attack on our country.
The president repeatedly says we must, “stay the course.” Today, I am saying that we need to change the course. We need to begin the process of disengaging from Iraq, and rededicating ourselves to the goal of eliminating Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda followers.
With regard to the president’s Iraq policy, it’s time to follow the advice of late New York Governor Al Smith – “Let’s look at the record”:
- The president was WRONG on weapons of mass destruction.
- The president was WRONG on Iraq’s nuclear capability.
- The president and his administration were WRONG on ties between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of 9/11.
- And the president is WRONG when he says we’re making significant progress in Iraq today.
The facts are that while some progress has been made (the January 2005 elections and the upcoming December elections), the situation on the ground is steadily getting worse and Americans are dying on an almost daily basis. The facts are that the Iraqis are moving toward a constitution that discriminates against women, and which could result in an Islamic theocracy similar to Iran.
These are not the results for which Americans should continue to give their lives. Dr. Raja Kuzai, a secular Shiite member of the Iraqi Assembly, said after reviewing the proposed constitution, “This is the future of Iraq. It will be in the hands of the clerics. I wanted Iraqi women to be free, to be able to talk freely and to be able to move around. I am not going to stay here.”
Senator Chuck Hagel commented recently that things are getting worse and that, “We should start figuring out how we get out of there.” Sen. Hagel is a conservative Republican, a Vietnam veteran, a recipient of two Purple Hearts for wounds received in action.
The president has repeatedly said that we should not immediately withdraw our forces from Iraq. I agree – as do the other bipartisan cosponsors of the Abercrombie resolution. We should provide security assistance for the October referendum and the December elections. That is why the beginning of the troop drawdown is not required until October of next year. By then, it is more than reasonable to expect that Iraqis begin to assume responsibility for their own security.
The New York Times recently estimated that the cost of five more years of American presence in Iraq would be $1.3 trillion. The Times did not estimate the cost in terms of lost lives of American military personnel. The prospect of such enormous human and financial costs are ample reason for us to develop a viable exit strategy from Iraq, and to rededicate ourselves to the real “War on Terror” – tracking down and eliminating Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda followers.
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