February 08, 2005
(Washington, DC) – Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA-09) attended a press conference to announce legislation introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-06) that calls on the President to bring the troops home from Iraq. Rep. Lee is a cosponsor of the resolution and offered the following statement:
“I’d like to thank my friend and fellow Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey for her leadership on this issue, and my colleagues for supporting this resolution.
“Congresswoman Woolsey’s Resolution got it right: it is time for the President to tell us his plan to bring the troops home. The President needs to recognize that our troops have become the focal point of the insurgency and he should work to remove the targets from their backs.
“If he is going to ask Congress and the American people for another $80 billion, he needs to spell out a clear plan to clean up the mess his administration has made and get our troops home
“Three weeks ago, I wrote a letter to the President, along with Representative Pete Stark, outlining steps that the administration can take: removing troops immediately from the villages, towns, and cities and redeploying a portion to guard Iraq's porous borders; convening of an emergency meeting of Iraq's leadership, its neighbors, the United Nations, and pan-Arab organizations to form an international peacekeeping force; ending war profiteering by US companies that receive no-bid contracts; and redoubling efforts to ensure the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure.
“Finally, we must remember that the President’s doctrine of preemptive war has long term costs. We must renounce the doctrine of preemptive war. It is not just the human and financial costs, although those are very high. This doctrine has alienated out long term allies and isolated our country, violated international law, and undermined the security framework that Republicans and Democrats alike have relied on for 50 years. This doctrine has undermined US ability to speak with authority or morality on human rights issues and it has established a destabilizing and dangerous precedent that one nation can attack another just by claiming that its security interests are threatened.
“This week I will reintroduce my resolution renouncing the doctrine of preemptive war so that we can put an end to a policy that has isolated our nation, created more terrorists and made America less safe.”
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Rep. Barbara Lee Calls for Plan to Bring the Troops Home
Emphasizes the Costs of Preemptive War Doctrine
(Washington, DC) – Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA-09) attended a press conference to announce legislation introduced by Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA-06) that calls on the President to bring the troops home from Iraq. Rep. Lee is a cosponsor of the resolution and offered the following statement:
“I’d like to thank my friend and fellow Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey for her leadership on this issue, and my colleagues for supporting this resolution.
“Congresswoman Woolsey’s Resolution got it right: it is time for the President to tell us his plan to bring the troops home. The President needs to recognize that our troops have become the focal point of the insurgency and he should work to remove the targets from their backs.
“If he is going to ask Congress and the American people for another $80 billion, he needs to spell out a clear plan to clean up the mess his administration has made and get our troops home
“Three weeks ago, I wrote a letter to the President, along with Representative Pete Stark, outlining steps that the administration can take: removing troops immediately from the villages, towns, and cities and redeploying a portion to guard Iraq's porous borders; convening of an emergency meeting of Iraq's leadership, its neighbors, the United Nations, and pan-Arab organizations to form an international peacekeeping force; ending war profiteering by US companies that receive no-bid contracts; and redoubling efforts to ensure the rebuilding of Iraq's infrastructure.
“Finally, we must remember that the President’s doctrine of preemptive war has long term costs. We must renounce the doctrine of preemptive war. It is not just the human and financial costs, although those are very high. This doctrine has alienated out long term allies and isolated our country, violated international law, and undermined the security framework that Republicans and Democrats alike have relied on for 50 years. This doctrine has undermined US ability to speak with authority or morality on human rights issues and it has established a destabilizing and dangerous precedent that one nation can attack another just by claiming that its security interests are threatened.
“This week I will reintroduce my resolution renouncing the doctrine of preemptive war so that we can put an end to a policy that has isolated our nation, created more terrorists and made America less safe.”
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