Cantwell on Iraq
Sen. Maria Cantwell issued a statement on Iraq today. In my opinion, the statement doesn’t say anything substantive to differentiate her position from President Bush’s position. In fact, her statment is even vaguer than Bush’s calls to train more special forces, reduce dependence on Middle Eastern oil and make 2006 a year of significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty. I’ve linked the whole thing below. Decide for yourself.
Cantwell applauds the recent Iraqi moves to appoint a prime minister and says we need to bring the troops home after stability is achieved. (There are 133,000 troops in Iraq. There is talk of bringing 30,000 home by the end of the year.)
Cantwell does criticize Bush, sorta, kinda: “In the past, President Bush has not provided all the leadership necessary to build international support for stabilizing Iraq and getting the Iraqi troops trained. The President must act with urgency.”
Not the hard-hitting kind of criticism that will satisfy anti-war activists, like the group who staged a sit-in at her office earlier this week, or fire up the anti-Bush base that needs to spark her campaign this fall.
Speaking of statements on Iraq and the sit-in at Cantwell’s Seattle office: The sit-in 7 also issued a statement today as a follow-up to Tuesday’s action. I’ve posted that below Cantwell’s statement.
Cantwell Statement Following White House Meeting on Iraq
WASHINGTON, DC U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell released the following statement after voicing concerns on Iraq in a meeting she attended Thursday at the White House with other senators and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley:
"Today, I took my concerns to the White House regarding our current course in Iraq.
"By selecting a speaker and prime minister-designate, the Iraqis have achieved an important benchmark. I urge them to continue working in the days ahead to support a government of national unity. Much work must still be done. Political and security progress are key to stability in Iraq. We must make this a year of transition for Iraq, leading to less American involvement in the country.
"I was glad to see news reports that the U.S. military is considering bringing as many as 30,000 U.S. troops home by the end of the year. It is a good start, but we need to see more. At the White House, I made it clear that the Bush administration must ensure that the new Iraqi government has the international support to succeed and that Iraqi security forces can take over security. As these benchmarks are met, we must bring our troops home.
"In the past, President Bush has not provided all the leadership necessary to build international support for stabilizing Iraq and getting the Iraqi troops trained. The President must act with urgency.
"The U.S. must get the Iraqi people on their feet and get our troops home. We must ensure that the new Iraqi government has the international support needed to succeed on its own; that more Iraqi security forces are prepared to take over their own security; and that critical infrastructure, like oil pipelines and the electricity grid, is harnessed as vital resources for success instead of being a constant target of terrorist attacks. As these goals are accomplished, we should begin to bring our troops home from Iraq.
"Last December, I personally witnessed the Iraqi elections, when nearly 10 million Iraqis voted in a successful election, meeting another critical benchmark. But in the four plus months since, Iraq has faced serious challenges. Sectarian violence plagued Iraq and threatened to turn into civil war. Now the prime minister-designate must get key cabinet ministers in place who are capable of helping to lead the country by stopping the militias and sectarian violence.
"The formation of the Iraqi government offers a new chance to succeed. But we need to set clear objectives and hold President Bush, Congress, U.S. military leaders and the Iraqis accountable for meeting them.”
# # #
Statement from the Sit-In activists:
(1) (a) The senator has agreed to meet with us again on May 6. We
are saddened and disappointed that the meeting will remain non-public.
Past meetings (with ourselves and with other groups) have lacked any
mechanism to provide for follow-up and accountability. We offered the
Senator's staff numerous mechanisms for making the meeting public, as
a step toward guaranteeing follow-up and accountability, including
simple procedures such as providing a publicly accessible verbatim
written transcript. The Senator's staff has declined all such
suggestions.
(b) There will be a mutually agreed moderator at this meeting
to keep it focused and productive.
(c) There will be core questions we will submit to the
Senator's staff in advance, questions we feel the Senator has failed
to answer. We would like for the discussion to remain focused on two
themes, which are the rationale for removing US armed forces from
Iraq: (i) how to reduce US casualties in Iraq, and (ii) how to end
civilian deaths which the US bears responsibility for. We are not
simply calling for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, we are also
calling for an end to US aggression against Iraqis.
2) Out of consideration for two staff members, who remained in the
office with us all night, we wanted those people to be able to resume
their normal duties and their personal lives and responsibilities. They were forced to sleep on the same miserable floors we were. At
all times the staff have been respectful and considerate, going beyond
what they were required to do. We were given a conference room,
water, and full access to a bathroom at all times. The fact that we
did not have access to food, beyond what we brought in with us, is
completely irrelevant: we did not sit-in at the Senator's office to
dine and/or be entertained. Those in our group who have medical needs
were provided breakfast on Wednesday. We all deeply appreciate the
behavior of the staff and regret any inconveniences they experienced.
Joe Colgan,
Father of 1st Lt. Benjamin Colgan, KIA Iraq 11/01/2003
Joshua Farris,
US Army Spc., Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom
Stacy Bannerman,
wife of Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran; Advisory Board of Military
Families Speak Out, author of 'When the War Came Home' (2006,
Continuum)
Rev. Richard Gamble,
Pastor Keystone United Church of Christ; Co-Chair of the Interfaith
Network of Concern for the People of Iraq (Program Affiliate of the
Church Council of Greater Seattle)
Abe Osheroff,
Veteran of the Spanish Civil War and WW II
Howard Gale,
Organizer of the 2005 Iraq Veterans Forum at Seattle Town Hall; Research Psychologist & Consultant
i think ur jump link is busted.