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New Brunswick, NJ --- Two days after Iraqis went to the polls to vote on a national constitution, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) hosted a student forum at Rutgers University to discuss the current situation in Iraq and the need for a success strategy to end the violence and bring our troops home.
Pallone was joined at the forum by Iraq War Veteran Gregg Bumgardner and Rutgers University Professor Lloyd C. Gardner. Bumgardner spent 12 years on active duty, including two stints in Iraq. He spent the first tour with the Fifth Special Forces Group in Baghdad and the second tour with the First Marine Division in Ramadi and Falluja. After returning to the U.S. in April, Bumgardner left the army. Professor Garnder is one of America's leading diplomatic historians and has written 15 books on American foreign policy.
The New Jersey congressman discussed his plan to stabilize Iraq and begin the process of bringing American troops home. Currently, the U.S. Department of Defense says 14 of the 18 Iraqi provinces have been secured by the U.S. military. Pallone believes it is time to turn control of these secured provinces over to either the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the United Nations that would be responsible for ensuring these areas remain secure, training Iraqi troops and working with the Iraqis on reconstruction.
"It's time the Bush administration come to the realization that the only way we will succeed in Iraq is to truly internationalize the security, training and reconstruction efforts," Pallone said. "If the Bush administration believes 14 of the 18 provinces are secure, we now have a golden opportunity to turn control of a large portion of the nation over to NATO or UN forces."
Pallone believes handing control over to an international organization in the secured provinces, would allow the U.S. military to focus exclusively on the provinces not yet secure. He also believes internationalizing the reconstruction efforts will encourage other nations to begin investing in the reconstruction efforts. The U.S. government continues to spend $1 billion per week on the war in Iraq.
"Internationalizing the war will take some pressure off U.S. forces and allow the Pentagon to bring some U.S. troops home," Pallone continued. "It will also dispel the notion that the U.S. is a permanent occupying force, a theme used by the insurgents to justify their continued attacks on Americans and Iraqis."
Pallone opposed giving President Bush the authority to attack Iraq in 2002. He argued then that the president acted without exhausting diplomatic means to rid Iraq of alleged weapons of mass destruction, and that it was necessary to secure international support under the auspices of the United Nations or NATO before going to war. He has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration's lack of accountability over expenditures for both the Iraq War and reconstruction efforts. |
