Reaction Of Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
To The President’s News Conference On Iraq
Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006

“For years the President has said his policy in Iraq is to ‘stay the course’ and he ridiculed anyone who urged him to change course.  Now, as the crisis worsens and November nears, he declares that ‘stay the course’ is no longer operative.  He has conveniently changed his words, but not his policies.

“It is appalling that after spending hundreds of billions of taxpayers’ dollars and sacrificing 2,700 American lives, our country is less secure today.  The Bush-Cheney Administration’s bad decisions and poor planning have squandered our resources and our opportunities to make America safer.  Their stubborn unilateralism has undermined accountability and fostered incompetence.  Congress’s current leadership has made things worse by going AWOL on Congress’s duty to provide oversight.  Imagine how different today’s world would be if the Bush-Cheney Administration had not diverted our forces to Iraq and if we had put muscle into capturing Osama bin Laden and rebuilding Afghanistan at that critical early juncture.

“Meanwhile, the situation in Iraq is worsening, while new threats like North Korea and Iran are getting messier.

“Real oversight by Congress is desperately needed to help move America forward in a new direction.  The President also should begin listening to and working with both parties in Congress in forging answers to these worsening problems.”

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