December 16, 2005
“This Republican resolution is another politically motivated sham that is designed to hide the fact that, for all his talk about ‘victory,’ the President can’t answer some very simple questions about his so-called ‘plan.’
“Does the President expect this 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.
“We commend the people of Iraq for their elections, and express our sincere hopes for the government it will create. We also commend our troops for their valiant efforts.
“But we also recognize 80 percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition forces, and that our troops have become the focus and the rallying point for the insurgency.
“We must make it absolutely clear that there will be no permanent occupation, which is why I have introduced a resolution to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq.
“As Representative Murtha has made clear, we can accomplish no more in Iraq militarily. Victory in Iraq means withdrawing our troops quickly and safely.”
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Barbara Lee Slams Sham GOP Iraq Victory Vote
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) voted today against H.Res. 612, a Republican resolution that was offered as an attempt to portray Democrats as divided on the issue of Iraq prior to the elections in 2006. The following is the statement she released in response to the resolution:“This Republican resolution is another politically motivated sham that is designed to hide the fact that, for all his talk about ‘victory,’ the President can’t answer some very simple questions about his so-called ‘plan.’
“Does the President expect this 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.
“We commend the people of Iraq for their elections, and express our sincere hopes for the government it will create. We also commend our troops for their valiant efforts.
“But we also recognize 80 percent of Iraqis oppose the presence of coalition forces, and that our troops have become the focus and the rallying point for the insurgency.
“We must make it absolutely clear that there will be no permanent occupation, which is why I have introduced a resolution to prevent the establishment of permanent military bases in Iraq.
“As Representative Murtha has made clear, we can accomplish no more in Iraq militarily. Victory in Iraq means withdrawing our troops quickly and safely.”