Political Quotes

“I will be brief because the message I have is a pretty straightforward message; that is, it is time for a change in Iraq. It has been a long time coming. We have been there 5 years, longer than we were in World War II, and it is time for a change in Iraq. It is time for a good change. What does that mean? It means that it is time for the Iraqis to stand up and fight for themselves. We know the violence there continues. We know that 15 percent of that violence is being perpetrated by foreign fighters, al-Qaida, and the rest--85 percent--is Iraqi-on-Iraqi ethnic violence. If the Iraqis are not ready to stop hurting each other and blowing each other up, if they are not ready to give that up, then we need to be ready to start pulling our troops out. It is pretty clear to me after 5 years that all our presence is doing at this point is acting as a recruiting tool for al-Qaida.”