December 17, 2005
"President Bush now says the insurgents are feeling ‘a tightening noose,’ but after hearing the administration say that the they knew where the weapons of mass destruction were, that our troops would be greeted as liberators, that the mission was accomplished, that we were ‘turning the corner,’ that the insurgency was in its ‘last throes,’ I’m not sure why he thinks the American people will believe him now.
"Does the President expect victory in five years? In ten years or twenty? How much money, how many American lives will it take to achieve this victory? Half a trillion dollars? A trillion? Five thousand American lives? 10,000? Are we going to maintain military bases in Iraq permanently?
"The President condemns ‘artificial timetables,’ but there is nothing unreasonable or artificial about the American people expecting concrete answers from the President on what it will take to accomplish his plan. His refusal to answer these basic questions means that he doesn’t know, or he is afraid to say. And that is unacceptable.
"Given the 9/11 commission’s failing report card for the Bush administration in meeting our pressing homeland security needs, I am very concerned that the President’s obsession with rhetorical victory in Iraq will prove to be a defeat in the larger effort to protect our nation against terrorist attack.
"Withdrawing our troops quickly and safely from Iraq and rededicating our military and financial resources to our pressing national security priorities is the victory that the American people are looking for and deserve."
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Barbara Lee Responds to Latest Bush Speech on Iraq
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) released the following statement in response to President Bush’s fifth speech on Iraq in recent weeks:"President Bush now says the insurgents are feeling ‘a tightening noose,’ but after hearing the administration say that the they knew where the weapons of mass destruction were, that our troops would be greeted as liberators, that the mission was accomplished, that we were ‘turning the corner,’ that the insurgency was in its ‘last throes,’ I’m not sure why he thinks the American people will believe him now.
"Does the President expect victory in five years? In ten years or twenty? How much money, how many American lives will it take to achieve this victory? Half a trillion dollars? A trillion? Five thousand American lives? 10,000? Are we going to maintain military bases in Iraq permanently?
"The President condemns ‘artificial timetables,’ but there is nothing unreasonable or artificial about the American people expecting concrete answers from the President on what it will take to accomplish his plan. His refusal to answer these basic questions means that he doesn’t know, or he is afraid to say. And that is unacceptable.
"Given the 9/11 commission’s failing report card for the Bush administration in meeting our pressing homeland security needs, I am very concerned that the President’s obsession with rhetorical victory in Iraq will prove to be a defeat in the larger effort to protect our nation against terrorist attack.
"Withdrawing our troops quickly and safely from Iraq and rededicating our military and financial resources to our pressing national security priorities is the victory that the American people are looking for and deserve."