Congressional Democrats Call for Troop Reductions in Iraq

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Capitol Hill
04 January 2007


Nancy Pelosi:

"The American people rejected an open-ended obligation to a war without end. It is the responsibility of the president to articulate a new plan for Iraq that makes it clear to the Iraqis that they must defend their own streets and their own security, a plan that promotes stability in the region and a plan that allows us to responsibly redeploy our troops."


Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois:

"We are talking about the lives of American soldiers, whether we will send 20 or 30,000 more American soldiers into that field of combat, whether that can possibly make a difference," said Dick Durbin. "I hope to God that the president reconsiders that. I am afraid that in many instances we are only sending targets, and not troops."


Senator Carl Levin of Michigan:

"If it is part of a commitment to reduce troops from the current level, beginning at a certain point, such as four to six months, and if in addition to that, it would not begin until and unless certain milestones of political settlement have actually been reached, where the Iraqis are not only committed to a political settlement - because that is the key to everything - but actually reached certain milestones along the road, at that point, it is worth considering a surge," said Carl Levin. "But that is a very, very narrow band of conditions."


Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont:

"When a White House acts as if it alone knows best, destroying the accountability of checks and balances, it makes bad decisions, but even worse, it also risks losing the people's trust," said senator Leahy. "Ultimately, a democracy of 300 million people must have the people's trust if they are going to govern. These are precisely the penalties that this administration has amassed through its unilateralism, in policies ranging from Iraq, to torture, to domestic surveillance."


http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-01-04-voa62.cfm


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