Barbara Lee Speaks Out for Withdrawal Timeline
Says Training Iraqi Security Forces is Undermining Security
(Washington, DC) – Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) spoke out and against a “blind commitment” to arming and training Iraqi security forces during debate today on a measure to establishing a clear timeline to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq by April, 2008. The following is her statement as delivered:
“As the co-founder of the Out of Iraq Caucus, I rise in support of this bill.
“The President has dug us deep into a hole in Iraq. By setting a clear timeline for the redeployment of United States troops, we are standing with the American people to stop the digging.
“If we are to climb out of this deep hole, we are going to have to make sure that when our troops come home, that they all come home. That means no permanent bases, and it means ending our blind commitment to arming and training Iraqi security forces. And it also means that come September, we must use the power of our purse and we must begin to fully fund the safe redeployment of our young men and woman and our contractors out of Iraq.
“The civil war in Iraq is raging within the very security forces we are arming and training. Our weapons and expertise are being used for sectarian violence and for killing Americans and Iraqi civilians. This policy only further endangers our troops and fuels the civil war.
“We must end the Bush administration’s failed policy in Iraq – and it has failed - and we must reconsider this blind commitment to arming and training Iraqi security forces.
“Let us support our troops, and I mean support our troops in a real way, by bringing them home. This is the will of the American people, that is the goal of the Out of Iraq Caucus, and that is in the national security interest of our country.”
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