Press Releases
Contact:
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
For Immediate Release
02/11/2008
Pelosi Statement on Bush Administration Plans to Keep Pre-Surge Level of U.S. Troops in Iraq
Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the
following statement on remarks in Baghdad today by Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, in which he said he would pause troop withdrawals from Iraq this summer,
keeping the number at the pre-surge level:
“Months before General David Petraeus offers his scheduled
Congressional testimony on Iraq,
Defense Secretary Defense Robert Gates and the Bush Administration have already
delivered their verdict about security conditions in Iraq. According to them, Iraq will not be secure enough five
months from now to permit any more than the ‘surge’ forces to be
withdrawn. That means that there will be
the same number of U.S.
troops in Iraq
in August 2008 as were there in August 2006.
“The stated purpose of the surge was to create a secure time
for the government of Iraq
to make the political change needed to bring about reconciliation. Despite the courage, dedication, and success
of our troops, the Iraqi government has failed to come even close to achieving
that goal.
“Our generals have issued dire warnings that the war in Iraq has
seriously undermined our nation’s military readiness, and is therefore making
our nation less secure. Yet the
President’s Iraq
policy has set the stage for a 10-year, trillion dollar war. The American people want a New Direction in Iraq.”