(Washington, DC) Today, Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) was joined by a majority in the House of Representatives to back legislation to change course in Iraq. The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act was passed by a vote of 223-201 and requires American forces to begin redeploying within 120 days and to complete the transition to a limited presence in Iraq by April 1, 2008.

The vote came on the same day as the White House Interim Report on Iraq, which—in its own estimation— states that the Iraqi government failed to satisfactorily meet 10 of the 18 benchmarks endorsed by the President in January.  The report indicates that political reconciliation in Iraq is non-existent.
 
“Today, we learned that our occupation of Iraq is failing to meet even the President’s standards.  Still, he asks us to wait indefinitely while our young men and women are dying in combat,” Yarmuth said. “The American people have waited more than four years with no results.  It’s time to stop pursuing a failed course and start saving lives with a new direction in Iraq.”

In addition to requiring the redeployment of American forces The Responsible Redeployment from Iraq Act requires the development of a comprehensive strategy for U.S. policy in Iraq and, for those forces still in Iraq, limits missions to counter-terrorism and protecting American personnel at the embassy in Iraq.

In its fifth year, the war in Iraq has cost American taxpayers $450 billion and new reports indicate that America spends $10 billion per month on the war in Iraq. To date, more than 3,600 American troops have lost their lives in Iraq and more than 26,000 have been wounded.