John Kerry to Offer Amendment to Redeploy U.S. Combat Troops from Iraq by End of Year
June 12th, 2006 @ 12:23 pm
As I noted here late last night, this week, John Kerry will be introducing an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill that will “redeploy U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2006.” Kerry believes that “It’s time for Iraqis to stand up for Iraq.”
John Kerry is calling for the withdrawal of United States forces under a schedule agreed upon with the new government of Iraq. This will legitimize the new Iraqi government, enable the Iraqis to become more self-reliant, and undermine support for the insurgency.
In fact, Senior American commanders have said the large U.S. military presence in Iraq feeds the insurgency. General George Casey, the top American military commander in Iraq, testified to Congress that our large military presence “feeds the notion of occupation” and “extends the amount of time that it will take for Iraqi security forces to become self-reliant.”
The goal of John Kerry’s plan is to undermine the insurgency by simultaneously pursing a political settlement and the military draw down of American forces. Kerry’s plan calls for:
** The redeployment of U.S. combat troops out of Iraq by the end of 2006.
** Only U.S. troops essential to completing the mission of standing up Iraqi security forces would remain.
{snip}
History:
John Kerry first called for the redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq by the end of this year on October 26, 2005. In a major address at Georgetown University, Kerry said the next six months were critical to the future of Iraq. At that time, he introduced his Strategy for Success in Iraq Act – a comprehensive new strategy to complete the mission in Iraq and redeploy the vast majority of American combat troops, beginning with the draw down of 20,000 U.S. troops after successful Iraqi elections in December.
Following up on his plan in April 2006, John Kerry laid out two important deadlines for Iraq – if Iraqi leaders couldn’t form a unity government by May 15, American troops would leave immediately rather than be stuck in the crossfire of an escalating civil war; if they did form a government, we would empower the new Iraqi leaders by agreeing on a schedule to withdraw American combat forces by the end of 2006.
MORE & LINKS -
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=3282RELATED POSTS -
John Kerry: The Moment of Truth In Iraq:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2889John Kerry’s Speech at Boston’s Faneuil Hall: “A Right and Responsibility to Speak Out”:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2723John Kerry Speaks on His Iraq Strategy: Two Deadlines and an Exit, Introduces Senate Resolution on Iraq:
http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2543
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