I will be introducing legislation that I think offers a better alternative. First, my legislation will cap the number of troops in Iraq as of January 1st and will require the administration to seek congressional authorization for any additional troops. The President has finally said, this is not an open-ended commitment in Iraq , but he is providing the Iraqis with an open-ended presence of American troops.
Second, as a means to increase our leverage with the Iraqi Government and to clearly send a message that there are consequences to their inaction, I would impose conditions for continued funding of the Iraqi security forces and the private contractors working for the Iraqis.
My legislation would require certification that the security forces were free of sectarian and militia influence and were actually assuming greater responsibility for Iraqi security, along with other conditions. We must not let U.S. funds, taxpayer funds, be used to train members of sectarian militias who are responsible for so much of the violence in Iraq . Unfortunately, it appears our funds to Iraqi security forces may be going to the people we are trying to restrain.
A news report last week in an article entitled ``Mahdi Army Gains Strength through Unwitting Aid of U.S.'' reports that:
..... the U.S. military drive to train and equip Iraq's security forces has unwittingly strengthened Muslin cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been battling to take over much of the capital city as American forces are trying to secure it.
According to this new report, U.S. Army commanders and enlisted men who are patrolling East Baghdad, said al-Sadr's militias had heavily infiltrated the Iraqi police and Army units that they've trained and armed. Said one soldier:
They'll wave at us during the day and shoot at us during the night.
We need to inform the Iraqi Government, in no uncertain terms, that there are consequences, that we will take funds away from their troops--not from our troops, many of whom still lack armored vehicles and counterinsurgency measure devices and communications equipment.
And we will not fund the Iraqis if our troops are going to enter into sectarian battles where some of the participants have received American training and support.
Third, I would hold the administration accountable for their empty promises as well. My bill requires the Bush administration to certify that Iraq has disarmed the militias, has ensured that a law has finally been passed for the equitable sharing of oil revenues; that the Iraqi Government, under American influence and even pressure, has made the constitutional changes necessary to ensure rights for minority communities; that the debaathification process has been reversed to allow teachers, professionals, and others who joined the Baath Party as a means to get a job to serve in the new Iraqi Government.
I would also require the administration to engage in a regional diplomatic initiative, including all of Iraq's neighbors, to address Iraq's future and to understand and convey clearly that the United States expects Iraq's neighbors to be partners in the stability and security of the new Iraqi state.
If these conditions are not met or are not on their way to being met within 6 months, a new congressional authorization requirement would be triggered.
Finally, I would prohibit any spending to increase troop levels unless and until the Secretary of Defense certifies that our American troops will have the proper training and equipment for GPO's whatever mission they are ordered to fulfill.
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