Statement from Businessman & Scientist Bill Foster on Iraq
Geneva, IL – Democratic candidate for Congress Bill Foster released the following statement on the war in Iraq:
"The American people demand a path and a plan to bring our troops home, but all the Bush Administration offers us is American troops on indefinite patrols refereeing a religious civil war. Congress must take a leadership role and exercise its constitutional powers to set us on the path to responsibly end this war.
"Bush's newest scheme means more troops in Iraq in January of 2008 than in January of 2007. Make no mistake—this policy remains an open ended commitment of American forces for years to come.
"The administration refuses to apply the pressure needed to force the Iraqis to take any responsibility for governing themselves. The administration's surge policy was supposed to provide the Iraqi government the time and breathing space to deal with the political divisions fueling the civil war. Instead, the Malilki government went on vacation while American troops patrolled the most dangerous parts of Iraq. The Iraqi government and the warring factions have failed to reach any level of agreement. These failures are the result of the Bush Administration's blank check of American support for policing this unending war.
"The summer of 2007 was more violent than the summer of 2006. And 2006 was worse than 2005. Someone has to tell Bush that there is no military solution if the Iraqis want to fight a civil war for control. Bush's naive policies of trying to use a war in Iraq to remake the Middle East have gotten us bogged in a religious civil war. More of the same won't fix it.
"Yet the president keeps asking for more time, as if staying there indefinitely is the answer. In the end, American forces must come home. The administration should begin that planning immediately so we don't repeat the mistakes of how we got into Iraq."