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Iraq and The War on Terror

September 3, 2006:

Congressman Meehan joined CNN's Late Edition to discuss his views on America's approach to Iran, the War on Terror, and the untenable situation in Iraq.  To watch a video clip of his appearance, please choose one of the following options:

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Part II

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September 12, 2006: Meehan Responds to President Bush's Speech

On September 12, 2006, Congressman Meehan responded to President Bush's speech on the 5th anniversary of 9/11.  To watch a video clip of his remarks, please choose one of the following options:

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June 15, 2006: Meehan Calls for Prompt Withdrawal of U.S. Forces

 

Meehan speaks on CNN's The Situation Room

June 15, 2006

Meehan on CNN's The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer

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Meehan speaks on MSNBC's Hardball

June 15, 2006

Meehan on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews

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Meehan speaks on the House Floor

Congressman Meehan Speaks on the House Floor

On June 15, 2006, Congressman Meehan delivered a speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives during ten hours of debate on the Iraq War calling for a change in America's policy on Iraq.  Click here or on the picture above to watch this speech.     

April 3, 2006: Meehan Earns Perfect Score From Peace Action

Congressman Meehan is one of only twenty-seven members of the House of Representatives to earn a perfect rating from the Peace Action Education Fund.  Click here for more information and to view the scorecard.


Watch Congressman Meehan speak about Iraq from the floor of the House (requires Windows Media Player).

Click one of the links below to watch Congressman Meehan speak about Iraq from the floor of the House.

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Read the full text of the speech

Upon returning from a recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, Congressman Meehan released a white paper outlining his plan for a U.S. victory strategy in Iraq.  The paper, "Iraq: Light at the End of the Tunnel," details Meehan's proposal for a phased drawdown of U.S. forces over the next 12 to 18 months.  Click here for the HTML Version of the white paper.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Upon returning from a recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, Congressman Meehan released a white paper outlining his plan for a U.S. victory strategy in Iraq.  The paper, "Iraq: Light at the End of the Tunnel," details Meehan's proposal for a phased drawdown of U.S. forces over the next 12 to 18 months.  

Click here for the HTML Version of the white paper

Click here for the PDF Version of the white paper

Congressman Meehan presented his proposal for a phased reduction of U.S. troops from Iraq in a speech at the Brookings Institution.  Marty also joined in a panel discussion with Brookings Senior Fellow Michael O'Hanlon, Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol and Brookings visiting fellow Peter Khalil.

January 25, 2005: Washington, D.C.

In January, Congressman Meehan presented his proposal for a phased reduction of U.S. troops from Iraq in a major foreign policy speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.  

Click here for photos of the event  

Click here to read a transcript of the speech.

 Meehan Position Statement on Iraq

As a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Marty Meehan has been a vocal critic of the Bush Administration's handling of the war in Iraq. Since the onset of the conflict, Marty has advocated bringing on additional allies for the security and reconstruction efforts in Iraq. He has also been a leading critic of the Defense Department's failure to provide our troops with the technology, equipment, and logistical support they need to protect themselves.

Marty believes that the Administration's unwillingness to conduct diplomacy and its poor planning of the post-war transition have been damaging to U.S. foreign policy. The conduct of the war has not only damaged our credibility around the world, but damaged our ability to wage an effective war on terrorism.

Fighting terror ought to be the top national security priority of the United States of America. Unfortunately, the war in Iraq has siphoned precious resources out of the war on terror and into Iraq. Moreover, the harm the Bush Administration's handling of the war has caused with our allies and with potential allies in the war on terror has increased, not decreased, threats to U.S. domestic security.

Marty has proposed an effective exit strategy from the quagmire in Iraq that will allow U.S. troops to come home, lead Iraq down the path to stability and democracy, and focus on the war on terror. The centerpiece of this plan is to bring additional allies into the reconstruction efforts and improve the training of Iraqi security forces to facilitate a withdrawal of U.S. troops as quickly as possible.

Marty has also been deeply troubled by the damage done to our credibility at the Abu Ghraib prison. He has taken a lead role in making sure that those private contractors implicated in the atrocities at Abu Ghraib prison are held accountable for their actions by writing the Contractor Accountability Act and the Torture Accountability Act. The Contractor Accountability Act closes loopholes in current law and ensure that outside contractors are held accountable for any illegal actions they may commit while working for the United States government. The Torture Accountability Act to expand the application of anti-torture statutes abroad.

What happened at Abu Ghraib is the ugliest - but my no means the only - symptom of an overall failure to manage the post-war reconstruction of Iraq. Halliburton, for example, has received billions of dollars in pork in no bid contracts while our troops have been left, in many cases, to buy their own body armor and reinforce their vehicles with scrap metal. This despite the fact that Halliburton has ties with state sponsors of terrorism and has allegedly overcharged the American taxpayer by tens of millions of dollars. Marty has supported open, competitive, and transparent procedures for awarding contracts and voted to restrict the administration's ability to award no-bid contracts. He has also written Attorney General John Ashcroft urging him to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether certain corporations are violating U.S. law by conducting business with state sponsors of terrorism.

International Effort

From the outset of the conflict, Marty called on the Bush Administration to reject the unilateral use of force in Iraq. In the days leading up to the war, he wrote a letter to the President arguing that "it would be disastrous to our long-term national security interests if we take unilateral military action against Iraq" and that "a broad-based international coalition is essential to the long-term success of our vital interests in the region."

Marty continues to be a leading proponent of internationalizing the reconstruction and stability operations in Iraq. Within a week of the commencement of hostilities, he wrote to the President urging him to use the new opportunity to engage the United Nations for post-Iraq reconstruction both to "effectively work toward consensus in the region" and to "bridge rifts in our international relationships." This requires the Bush Administration to empower the United Nations to oversee the reconstruction of infrastructure and Iraqi elections. He is hopeful that the long overdue Security Council Resolution passed this June will give the United Nations and its Special Envoy to Iraq the authority they need to take over the reconstruction of Iraq.

Marty strongly supports handing over military and security operations to the Iraqis as soon as they are adequately trained. This includes advocating ramped up efforts to train the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, police, and other security forces. It also includes turning over control of military operations to a true coalition, such as NATO.

Giving Our Troops What They Need


Marty has been outraged by the failure of the Defense Department to provide for the personal safety of our men and women in the Armed Forces. Marty worked in the House of Representatives to urge the Administration to provide sufficient body armor for every soldier, many of whom spent up to $2,000 out of their own paychecks to provide necessary armor that the Pentagon failed to provide. In May he secured $1.6 billion to provide necessary armor for Humvees and purchase interceptor body armor for unprotected soldiers.

There are also concerns about the length of time our troops have been deployed to Iraq and the burdensome strains placed on our reserve forces. For example, the 94th Military Police Company based out of Londonderry, New Hampshire has been activated for 2 ½ of the past four years and had their deployment extended twice. The shortage of troops is a result of this administration's inability to convince our allies to contribute to the effort in Iraq and their refusal to deploy additional forces to the region. Marty has called for a more reasonable rotation schedule for Reservists to give troops more advanced notification and a concrete deployment length so they can spend less time away from their families.

The Road From Here

Marty's top priority is to implement an effective exit strategy by treating our allies as equals and negotiating their full participation in the operation in Iraq. If the United States worked more cooperatively with our allies could obtain commitments for 50,000 troops from outside the United States - twice the current number. This would increase the number of allied troops in Iraq to 200,000, the amount that General Eric Shinseki, the former Army Chief of Staff, predicted would be necessary to stabilize Iraq.

Looking to the future, the reconstruction of Iraq is extremely important. Our exit can only occur when Iraq is ready to exist as an autonomous entity. To this end, we need an extensive training campaign to prepare an independent Iraqi military and security force. The United Nations and NATO must play a leading role in Iraq's future after the conflict ends and should immediately be given more involvement in the troubled state.