Mike Levin: “the primary objective of the bipartisan resolution my colleagues and I are introducing today is to convince a bipartisan…”

“the primary objective of the bipartisan resolution my colleagues and I are introducing today is to convince a bipartisan majority of Senators to oppose deeper military involvement in Iraq by the United States and to get the Iraqis to reach a political settlement among themselves as the only way to end the violence in Iraq. The resolution would send a clear message that Congress does not support the plan to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq because it is based on the false premise that there is a military solution to the violence and instability in Iraq, when what is needed is a political solution among the Iraqi leaders and factions. Iraq's own Prime Minister Maliki acknowledged recently that "The crisis is political, and the ones who can stop the cycle of aggravation and bloodletting of innocents are the politicians." The resolution states that it is not in the national security interests of the United States to deepen our military involvement in Iraq by increasing the number of U.S. troops. The resolution calls for the transition of our military mission in Iraq to a more limited one of training, counterterrorism, and protecting the territorial integrity of Iraq. It also calls for greater engagement of other countries in the region in the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.”