September 10, 2007
“I am afraid that with his testimony today, General David Petraeus may be following in the footsteps of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and I fear that he may face the same fate, namely that of respected military man whose credibility is forever tarnished for propping up the Bush administration’s disastrous policy in Iraq.
“In fact, the White House’s effort to buy more time for the President’s surge policy is premised on the credibility of General Petraeus himself, and not the string of cherry-picked numbers being deployed this week. If the Pentagon or the administration had any confidence in the numbers that ostensibly show progress – which have been contradicted by every other independent assessment – they would release the data and the methodology used for arriving at them. It is telling that they have not.
“The debate about alleged military progress in Iraq is a distraction – a smokescreen – that only serves to obscure the basic, fundamental fact that there is no military solution to the situation in Iraq.
“Our troops are trapped in a civil war and occupation, a situation where there can be no ‘victory.’ Our continued presence there is not only breaking our military, it is undermining our national security and our efforts to fight international terrorism.
“Congress has the power to end to the Bush administration’s failed policy in Iraq. We should not approve another penny to continue that policy. Instead, we should use our constitutionally-mandated appropriations power to provide all the money necessary to fully fund the safe, timely and responsible redeployment of our troops and contractors from Iraq.”
Barbara Lee: Petraeus Walks in Powell’s Footsteps
(Oakland, CA) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee issued the following statement in response to the testimony today of General David Petraeus before a joint session of the House Armed Services and Foreign Affairs Committees:“I am afraid that with his testimony today, General David Petraeus may be following in the footsteps of former Secretary of State Colin Powell and I fear that he may face the same fate, namely that of respected military man whose credibility is forever tarnished for propping up the Bush administration’s disastrous policy in Iraq.
“In fact, the White House’s effort to buy more time for the President’s surge policy is premised on the credibility of General Petraeus himself, and not the string of cherry-picked numbers being deployed this week. If the Pentagon or the administration had any confidence in the numbers that ostensibly show progress – which have been contradicted by every other independent assessment – they would release the data and the methodology used for arriving at them. It is telling that they have not.
“The debate about alleged military progress in Iraq is a distraction – a smokescreen – that only serves to obscure the basic, fundamental fact that there is no military solution to the situation in Iraq.
“Our troops are trapped in a civil war and occupation, a situation where there can be no ‘victory.’ Our continued presence there is not only breaking our military, it is undermining our national security and our efforts to fight international terrorism.
“Congress has the power to end to the Bush administration’s failed policy in Iraq. We should not approve another penny to continue that policy. Instead, we should use our constitutionally-mandated appropriations power to provide all the money necessary to fully fund the safe, timely and responsible redeployment of our troops and contractors from Iraq.”
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