Leahy Joins Kerry’s Call for 20,000 Troops Home from Iraq by the Holidays

[kerrygoddess]

Leahy Joins Kerry’s Call for 20,000 Troops Home from Iraq by the Holidays
November 5th, 2005

Senators Step Up Pressure on Bush for a Plan with Specific Benchmarks To Start Bringing Troops Home by 2006

BARRE, VT. — Senator Patrick Leahy joined Senator John Kerry’s call to bring 20,000 troops home from Iraq by the holidays, after successful December elections, at a meeting with the media today in Barre, Vermont. The two Senators who both gave speeches recently about the need to change course in Iraq called on Bush to put forward a specific plan to transfer power to the Iraqis and start bringing the troops home by 2006.

“The American people are eager for a plan on Iraq that makes sense, and our brave troops are eager for leadership that equals the sacrifice they are making for our country. The reality is: George W. Bush doesn’t have a plan for Iraq, and misleading rhetoric about ’staying as long as it takes’ will never add up to a plan,” said Kerry. “To undermine the insurgency, we have to simultaneously pursue both a political settlement and the withdrawal of American combat forces linked to specific, responsible benchmarks. Senator Leahy has long been a voice of conscience on the war, and I am delighted he is joining with me today to turn up the heat on the administration to do what’s right for our country and our troops. After the successful December elections, we can and should bring 20,000 troops home. It’s a critical first step.”

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1075

[noahmijo]

1. that doesn't mean a damn thing

because all we at DU care about is what Crispin is saying about Kerry. Damn that Kerry and his insistance on not getting anything done!!!

:sarcasm:

[RazzleDazzle]

19. I'll make that argument for you

My immediate reaction was: Great sentiment, probably completely undoable which means it's perfectly safe to call for that, and politically it looks and sounds absoutely wonderful.

Let's see where it goes, if anywhere, beyond mere words. I'm not hopeful, but certainly willing, even eager, to be wrong. I'll be eager to see what Kerry DOES to push this forward.

BTW, if we can remove 20,000, why not all?

[RazzleDazzle]

20. Here's an idea

Maybe he could put up a petition for people to sign. Those have been so effective in the past.

:sarcasm:

[blm]

2. Wow...it's now Leahy, Boxer, Feingold, Feinstein, Reid, Dean, Tom Hayden

who have all spoken in support of Kerry's plan.

This is a great sign. Did I miss anyone?

[JI7]

3. Sheehan

[paulk]

4. did she support it?

I was watching her give a press conference on C-span the day the Libby indictments came down and she was critical of Kerry's plan - something about the 20,000 just being the amount of troops that had been added for the election, so there was no real troop reduction.

Maybe I missed something else she said? I've been offline for a couple of weeks.

[Mass]

5. I dont think she supports it, but I may have missed something.

[JI7]

6. she never fully supported it , but she used him to back up her position

in wanting withdrawal. so i guess i'm thinking of that rather than this specific plan.

[Goldeneye]

7. Screw that!

Where's that thread about Kerry needing to get out of the way? He's a has been. He should just STFU! I hate him. Why does he act like such a freeper? He's just horrible. He votes like a republican. He talks like a republican. He does his hair all nice like a republican. He drives a republican car. I bet he even smells like a republican. He says nasty things about people like a republican. Why can't he be more like Zell? Damn him straight to hell! He lost the election! Why didn't he replace all those machines. You all know they stole it from him because he didn't replace all those machines. He had a whole fricking year to fix our election system and he didn't do a damn thing. It doesn't take long to get stuff like that done. Everyone knows he was just an old crony of Bushes from their time in skull and bones and he planned to take a dive from the begining. The debates were a facade. Stupid asshole! I bet they rigged the primaries too. Kerry could've never won on his own! He's a boring, flip-flopping, long-winded, conceited pig. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He never worked a day in his life and as we all know now, he never served in Vietnam. Jane Fonda and her hollywood friends had a set put up so they could fake some pictures that he could use when he ran for president. The doctor that says he has shrapnel in his leg is clearly payed of. As were all his "brothers in arms" and the maker of "going upriver." You know what else? You know why Kerry wanted to take a dive so bad? Because back in the 1980's Bush told Kerry that if he would take a dive in the 2004 election, then Bush would make Kerry the candidate the machines were rigged for in 2008. OMG! I figured it out. They're gonna rig the machines for Kerry in 2008. That's why he doesn't want to fix the machines. Everyone needs to know! The count every vote act is a scam! OMG! Holy SHit! I'm really on a role. I don't know what we were thinking. How didn't we recognize this like 2 years ago when there were all those exit poll swings and Kerry won the primaries. They've been plotting this thing for like 20 years. I bet Kerry and Bush are like best friends. Clinton must be in on it too. That's why he's so friendly with Bush Sr. That means Hillary and Chelsea are also in on it. We need to keep an eye on Chelsea. What is she up to? I bet she's working at some republican think tank, telling them all about the democrats plans. That's why the republicans are always like 3 steps ahead of us. Chelsea's been leaking them our plans. OMG! This is so big. This is just huge. I had no idea how big it was. The web is enormous. There all connected. Wait a minute. What if all of the democrats are in on it? What if they're all part of this plot to take over the world? Biden and Lieberman and Hillary and Bayh are really neocons. The others are all neocons too, but they have to pretend to be liberal to make it look like we have some kind of representation. It all makes so much more sense than it did. That's why it seems like we have no leadership. OMG! How come no one else could put this all together? This is enormous. And the plan is so intricate and well planned out, it almost seems like there is no plan. But that is all part of the plan. I'm so freaked out. Now that I've figured it all out, I'm probably in a lot of danger. I mean, I just exposed the whole ball of wax. There for sure going to come after me. I think I hear someone right now crawling around on my roof. Good thing I've got lots of guns. That's the one thing I can't figure out. Why they let us keep our guns. It's gotta be part of the plan. Maybe the guns are somehow programmed to stop working the second they decide they are going to really, really take over and there whole plot is exposed. That's why they like to be so cozy with the NRA. OMG! Everything makes sense now. Holy Shit!


ooops. forgot to take my happy pills this morning.

[MH1]

8. ROTFLMAO

You pretty much covered it all.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

(except you didn't make enough spelling mistakes.)

[globalvillage]

13. LOL

You crack me up.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[sallyseven]

18. Oh stop it you mean irrational person.

[zann725]

9. 20,000 is STILL gratuitous...patronizing. We need entirely out NOW.

Leaving now can NOT de-stablize anything anymore than it already is. In fact, our lack of presence might calm things down. THe only reason to leave any troops there now is to build the U.S. mega-Bases we want there permanently. That's why the delay. Win or loss has nothing to do with leaving any U.S. Troops.

It'll be the same as Viet Nam. At some point, one day, any day, we WILL withdraw...no victory, no honor,no justification. And the devastated country left behind will go on and rebuild WITHOUT us. Certainly NOT with Haliburton money.

[Goldeneye]

10. maybe it's gratuitous patronizing to you.

to the 20,000 who would spend christmas with their families I bet it is a whole lot more.

[MH1]

12. Damn, I guess you did

miss one.

:eyes:

[Noisy Democrat]

22. Let's start with 20,000

and Kerry's call that Bush has to get his act together or Congress will take the Iraq situation out of Bush's hands.

[LittleClarkie]

26. So is it a Palestine thing? "I want them all out or I won't support

a plan to get some out now and the rest out at the end of the year"?

Is this or is this not a step in the right direction. Will you or will you not support a step in the right direction if it is not the whole enchilada you want?

So is it all or nothing? Or do you support positive steps?

[gordianot]

11. Kerry framed the question correctly years ago.

"How Do You Ask a Man to Be the Last Man to Die in Vietnam"? Does the same apply for Iraq or is that different? The things we say in our youth or when we had convictions.

I still like and respect John Kerry and do not pretend to have the answers.

[mike_c]

14. bring them all home, dammit-- U.S. out of Iraq!

20,000 my ass. Stop this madness now!

[wisteria]

15. I'm so happy to hear this news. If other Dem's start supporting this

it may just spark a nerve in the general public and maybe we can bring home some troops by the holidays. Good for Leahy. Maybe we should call or write him a thank you.

[wryter2000]

16. I think they mean well

But I think bringing home a few troops is a very bad idea. It would only leave the ones left behind at greater risk and make it look as if * is accomplishing something, IOW things are better now, so some troops can come home.

[wryter2000]

21. Brit Hume confirms that

Consider the source...

I happened on Faux just now without realizing it. Brit Hume was saying that *'s numbers won't go up until troops start to come home. I want our troops home, but I want all of them home. I don't want to pull a few out, leave the rest in more danger, and give the idjit a boost in the polls. I'm afraid that's all this would accomplish.

[July]

17. However, since we're INCREASING troops there now, what does this mean?

Get down by 20,000 from the pre-increase number of 138,000, or get down from the increased number of 160,000 to 140,000 (in other words, 2,000 more than we now have)? I hope Kerry and others will bring the increase to the public's attention while they call for reductions.

[Catrina]

23. That's what I was thinking

In fact, Bush sent over more troops recently, both for the election and the Constitution. We now have over 160,000 troops there.

I heard people say it was the intention of Republicans to quietly increase the troop presence, (which they have) and then appear to be withdrawing them (which they would be doing anyway after the elections) in time for the 2006 elections. But we'd still have the same number of troops that have been there all along.

Kerry needs to ask to withdraw those EXTRA troops sent over for the election, and then an additional 20,000. That would be a total of about 50,000 if it were to mean anything.

Why play into the Republicans (Rove) trick of only withdrawing the extra 'election' troops? I really hate the way they think we are completely stupid and unaware of their political ploys.

[Zhade]

24. Viet Nam era DUers: was something like this proposed back then?

A limited, feel-good "home for the holidays"-style 'withdrawal'? I seem to recall hearing something about it, but as I wasn't around, I'm wondering if any DUers who were can answer the question.

[karynnj]

25. Not that I remember

It's also not just this initial withdrawal but an overall plan. Also remember we can only get what we can persuade Bush to give. If Kerry or other Democrats offer a plan that Bush can use (and probably credit only if it has problems) as cover to get out, this will be helpfull.

In reality, the ugly truth is that Kerry has no more power to get the soldiers home now then he did in 1971. In both cases the only power is in increasing the political price to the Republicans for staying.