Press Releases
Contact:
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
For Immediate Release
09/10/2007
Pelosi on Petraeus Testimony: Continuing Failed Surge in Iraq Until at Least Next Summer Is Unacceptable
Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the
following statement this afternoon on testimony of General David Petraeus and
Ambassador Ryan Crocker to a joint House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs
Committee hearing on the war in Iraq:
“Last November, the American people voted for a New
Direction in Iraq,
but the President chose instead to escalate the war by reverting to a ‘surge’
strategy that had failed four times before.
The President promised the American people that this surge would be a
short-term effort to provide space for political reform and national
reconciliation in Iraq. Today, despite overwhelming evidence that
neither goal has been achieved, General Petraeus testified that the surge would
last at least until next summer. This is
simply unacceptable.
“Iraqis do not believe their security has been improved by
the surge or by the American military presence in Iraq. The American people want to know why our
troops must continue to sacrifice when a majority of the Iraqis want our forces
out of their country. At home, an
overwhelming majority of Americans want us to responsibly redeploy our troops
so we can begin to address the dire readiness state of our military and refocus
on fighting terrorism around the world.
Standing in the way is the stubborn refusal of President Bush to change
course, regardless of the facts.
“The President’s strategy in Iraq has failed. It is time to change the mission of our
troops to one that will promote regional stability and combat terrorism, so
that the numbers of our brave men and women in uniform in Iraq can be
reduced on a much more aggressive timetable than the one outlined today by
General Petraeus.”