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Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Sen. Feingold: Bush Disappoints
Posted by Bob BrighamSenator Russ Feingold on Bush speech at Fort. Bragg:
"I am disappointed in the President's failure to lay out a clear and candid assessment of where we stand in Iraq today, where we are going, and how we plan to get there. I share the President's broad goal of helping to support a free and stable Iraq. But lofty goals are no substitute for a strategic plan and our excellent and courageous troops deserve sound policy.The President urges us to remember the lessons of 9/11. But it is with those lessons in mind that I oppose the Administration's current approach to Iraq. The U.S. military presence in Iraq has become a powerful recruiting tool for terrorists, and Iraq is now the premier training ground and networking venue for the next generation of jihadists. We need a strategy to win the global fight against terrorism, and that strategy has to include a timetable for achieving the remaining military mission in Iraq and then bringing American troops back home."
Feingold introduced a resolution, S. Res. 171, earlier this month -- the first resolution of its kind in the Senate -- that calls on the President to create a timetable for achieving clear goals and bringing American troops home from Iraq.
It is important to note that Bush once agreed with Senator Feingold:
In 1999, George W. Bush criticized President Clinton for not setting a timetable for exiting Kosovo, and yet he refuses to apply the same standard to his war.
George W. Bush, 4/9/99:
“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
And on the specific need for a timetable, here’s what Bush said then and what he says now:
George W. Bush, 6/5/99
“I think it’s also important for the president to lay out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will be withdrawn.”
[ed. note: article originally ran in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on 6/5/99]
VERSUS
George W. Bush, 6/24/05:
“It doesn’t make any sense to have a timetable. You know, if you give a timetable, you’re — you’re conceding too much to the enemy.”
Posted at 09:01 PM in Republicans | Technorati