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Issues Foreign
Policy Iraq
I strongly support our troops who have
courageously answered the call to service, but I remain deeply
concerned that the war in Iraq is undermining the fight against
the global terrorist networks that attacked our country on
September 11, 2001. In October 2002, I voted against the resolution
authorizing the President to use force in Iraq because I questioned
the shifting justifications for this mission and feared that
it would weaken our capacity to combat terrorism.
Since the war began, I have repeatedly pressed the Administration
to provide a clear strategy for success in Iraq and a strategy
for defeating al Qaeda and its allies. In June 2005, I became
the first Senator to introduce a resolution calling on the
Administration to provide a flexible timeframe for achieving
its military goals in Iraq and subsequently withdrawing U.S.
troops. The resolution helped to further a national debate
about the direction of the Administration’s flawed policies
in Iraq.
I have consistently called for a timetable for U.S. troops
to be redeployed out of Iraq, and on January 11, 2007, I called
on Congress to use its power of the purse to put an end to
our involvement in this disastrous war. On April 10, 2007
I introduced legislation with Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV) that requires the President to begin safely redeploying
U.S. troops from Iraq 120 days from enactment and ends funding
for the war, with three narrow exceptions, effective March
31, 2008.
Our troops in Iraq have performed heroically. But we cannot
continue to send our nation’s best into a war that was
started – and is still maintained – on false pretenses.
The indefinite presence of substantial numbers of U.S. troops
in Iraq will not fix that country’s political problems,
and it will not help us address the global threats to our
national security that are currently being overlooked or neglected.
The administration’s misguided, single-minded focus
on Iraq has contributed to the recent resurgence of the Taliban
and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We need to refocus our resources
on the threats to our national security from terrorist networks
around the world, in places such as Afghanistan and Somalia.
I also continue to push for accountability and transparency
in the use of taxpayer money in Iraq. I led efforts to create
and extend the life of the Special
Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), whose
office is charged with making sure that U.S. reconstruction
dollars in Iraq are not subject to waste, fraud, or abuse.
Please view
a timeline on my efforts to help fix our flawed Iraq policy.
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