Letter to Constituents from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Iraq Policy

September 20, 2007

Letter to Constituents from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Iraq Policy

Dear Constituent:



Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding Iraq. As you indicate, the situation there is very serious and is a major and constant focus of mine.

I believe that the President should abandon his escalation of the war in Iraq and offer a change in course to his failing strategy. In January, the President announced his “surge” strategy to create space for Iraqi political reconciliation. This has not happened. Unfortunately, rather than changing course in Iraq, it seems that the President intends to portray an unavoidable reduction in U.S. troops, who have done everything we have asked of them and more, to pre-surge levels as a marker of progress. Redeploying over the next year five of the twenty combat brigades currently deployed in Iraq will mean that one year from now, there will be the same number of troops in Iraq as there were one year ago. That is simply too little, too late, and unacceptable to the Congress and the American people. As Commander-in-Chief, the President has the authority to greatly accelerate the redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq – to bring so many more of our troops home much faster.

In the Senate, I will continue to seek responsible ways to force the President to change course and begin to bring our troops home. In May, I announced that I would join with Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia in co-sponsoring legislation to set an expiration date of October 11, 2007 for the authorization for the use of force in Iraq. I believe that a full reconsideration of the terms and conditions of that authorization is overdue. This bill would do just that by requiring the President to ask Congress for a new authorization if the Administration seeks to continue the war.

Also in May, I voted against a second version of the supplemental appropriations bill because it failed to compel the President to give our troops a new strategy in Iraq. I fully support our troops, and wish that the President had followed the will of the American people and signed the original bill Congress sent to the White House in April, which would have both funded the troops and set us on a new course of phased redeployment.

I have also called on both Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace to brief Congress on any existing contingency plans for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, or to provide an explanation as to why such plans have not been properly created. In August, I followed up on this request by introducing legislation to require that the Pentagon prepare a report and briefing for Congress on this issue that is critical to the safety of our troops. Congress must be sure that we are fully prepared to withdraw our forces without any unnecessary danger. We cannot afford to repeat past failures, such as not planning adequately for the conflict and failing to properly equip our men and women in uniform.

As you may know, I most recently traveled to Iraq in January to assess the situation there firsthand. I expressed my gratitude to our troops on the ground and met with Iraqi leaders and U.S. commanders. I came back from the trip more determined then ever to stop the President's escalation, and to start the long overdue redeployment of troops. One month after returning from that trip, I introduced the Iraq Troop Protection and Reduction Act to halt the President's escalation policy and to provide an alternative strategy to stabilize the country – a strategy that would enable the President to end the war before he leaves office.

Specifically, my bill would cap the number of troops in Iraq at the level before the President’s escalation. It would be against the law to send more. The legislation also sets out to protect our troops – who are performing heroically – by prohibiting the use of funds to send them to Iraq unless they have the proper equipment and training. This is critical in light of February’s Department of Defense Inspector General report, which concluded that the U.S. military is still failing to adequately equip our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

My bill also aims at putting real pressure on the Iraqi government, requiring them to make political progress on key issues – such as ensuring that the Iraqi security forces are free of militia or sectarian influence – or lose funding for their military and reconstruction. Such provisions would increase our leverage with the Iraqi government and send the message that there are consequences for continued inaction.

Finally, my legislation would require the Bush Administration to both begin a phased redeployment, which I have been advocating for almost two years, and convene an international conference of Iraq’s neighbors, to reduce regional interference in internal Iraqi affairs and encourage more countries to contribute to Iraq’s extensive needs, within 90 days. If the administration fails to meet these requirements, a new Congressional authorization would be required to remain in Iraq.

Thank you again for sharing your concerns regarding the extraordinarily difficult situation in Iraq. As New York’s first Senator to serve on the Armed Services Committee, you can be sure that I will continue to address the war with the utmost attention and concern. For more information on this and other issues being discussed before the United States Senate, please visit http://clinton.senate.gov. I am most appreciative that you took the time to be in touch about a topic as important as Iraq .



Sincerely Yours,



Hillary Rodham Clinton

http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=283815&&

:)

In January, the President announced his “surge” strategy to create space for Iraqi political reconciliation. This has not happened. Unfortunately, rather than changing course in Iraq, it seems that the President intends to portray an unavoidable reduction in U.S. troops, who have done everything we have asked of them and more, to pre-surge levels as a marker of progress.

One month after returning from that trip, I introduced the Iraq Troop Protection and Reduction Act to halt the President's escalation policy and to provide an alternative strategy to stabilize the country – a strategy that would enable the President to end the war before he leaves office.

:crazy: