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For Immediate Release: September 12, 2007

Contact: Kimberly Allen, (202) 226-8364; (202) 420-1524 [cell]

Statement on General Petraeus' Testimony on the Situation in Iraq

(SEPTEMBER 12, 2007)—"General David Petraeus has my utmost respect. He is a dedicated leader of our military and has served our country honorably. However, I am disappointed that he did not address just how many more years U.S. troops should remain in Iraq in his recent testimony before Congress. His claim that it will take nearly a year to return to troop levels before the President's escalation is also disheartening because it means the Administration is prepared to leave 130,000 U.S. soldiers in harm's way with no end in sight.

"My view remains that it is long past time to redeploy all U.S. troops out of the middle of this Iraqi civil war. The past three months marked the bloodiest summer so far for U.S. troops in Iraq, with 264 soldiers killed. Iraq's political leaders are far from any sort of reconciliation—supposedly the goal of President Bush's surge. Terrorists continue to use our presence in Iraq as a recruiting tool. And those who were actually behind the attacks of 9/11 remain holed up in Pakistan and other countries while we sacrifice the lives of our young men and women, deplete our military, spend half a trillion dollars and further damage our international standing.

"We have to ask ourselves: should the U.S. military and U.S. taxpayers continue to pay the price of this disastrous Bush Iraq War adventurism? After hearing General Petraeus out, I continue to believe the answer is 'no'. The costs to our nation in blood and treasure will be far greater if we continue in this disastrous war than they would be if we withdrew our forces as soon as possible."

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