Sen. Kerry's remarks on ISG Report

“Not one more American soldier should die because politicians in Iraq or in the United States are unwilling to face reality and change direction. We need to change course now. Today, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group issued an urgent call for a new direction in Iraq. Their report acknowledges the futility of the current policy. If the Administration will accept its recommendations, this report can provide core elements of the way forward.

“The report underscores what many of us have long been arguing: there is no military solution to our deep problems in Iraq. Most importantly the report calls on policy makers to acknowledge that for Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future, the large commitment of American forces in Iraq can not be indefinite. Meeting the report’s goal of getting our combat troops out of Iraq by early in 2008 is essential to forcing the diplomatic and political steps needed to achieve stability. I wish the report went further by making this a hard deadline for redeploying our combat troops. Iraqi political leaders have proven time and again that they only respond to hard deadlines, and I believe that a deadline is the most effective way to expedite the process and save lives.

“The report calls for a step for which I have been a strong advocate for over two years: a major diplomatic initiative bringing together others in the region – including Iran and Syria – to forge a political solution to end the violence. Prime Minister Maliki has now embraced the idea of a regional conference, and this requires real diplomacy from the Administration to make it successful. I strongly support the report’s calls for sending additional military and economic support to Afghanistan as we disengage from Iraq because it is clear that we must redeploy from Iraq to succeed in Afghanistan.”