Crossposted at RichardCarter2008.com:
I am a Democratic candidate for United States Congress in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District.
The United States’ position in Iraq is absolutely untenable. We cannot afford the cost of the war in dollars or lives. We cannot continue to risk our national defense and our future military readiness in the pursuit of George Bush’s delusions. We must bring our troops home and allow the Iraqi people to assume their own sovereignty.
This war costs $8 billion a month, roughly $187,000 every minute of every day. This war has cost us the lives of 3,943 American Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines, and over 28,000 more wounded. This war has immeasurably cost our government its credibility both on the world stage, and in the hearts and minds of the American people.
Our huge commitment in Iraq has ruined our ability to effectively manage other situations. Our military is no longer prepared to deal with potential threats, such as Iran and North Korea. More dangerously, our national defense is in a state of total disrepair. Much of our military equipment has been overused; additionally, a vast majporty of our National Guard units are unprepared for combat. Because of this, we are not even able to defend our borders or to adequately respond to natural disasters.
I am not in favor of timetables for withdrawal, which prolong the situation–we should simply leave as quickly and safely as possible. George Bush and his Republican allies in Congress have tried to convince the American people that this is tantamount to defeat. This is incredibly disrespectful to the men and women who put their lives on the line in Iraq every day.
Our brave men and women have accomplished every mission they were given. Saddam has been deposed. There are no weapons of mass destruction. The Iraqi people have a constitution and a democratically elected government. At this point, there are no more military solutions in Iraq, only political solutions. Once we send a strong message that our presence in Iraq is neither permanent nor unconditional, it becomes much more likely that Iraqi political leaders will take the steps necessary to resolve their country’s political and security crisis. Only when we stop subsidizing the religious and ethnic strife in Iraq will the Iraqis have an incentive to work together for their own security and prosperity. We should bring our troops home now.