Political Quotes

“I thank the Chair and thank my friend from South Carolina for his generous words. Obviously, what turned the tide in Iraq was a vision, a commanding vision by General Petraeus about what had to happen to succeed with a new counterterrorism strategy and tremendous support from the men and women of the American military, a generation that volunteered, that stepped up to the call, that rightfully should be called America's ``new greatest generation.'' They are an inspiration to us. Of course, we lost a lot of them there. The Iraqi military fought hard and now, increasingly, has shown its capability to defend its own nation, which is what we had hoped and prayed and fought for. So my friends from Arizona and South Carolina had the same reaction I did yesterday. We began to talk to each other by the end of the day as we came back to Washington, to what was originally a FOX News story, that the decision had been made in the administration to go down to 3,000 troops. We reacted that way because it was lower than any number we had ever heard from anybody we had confidence in about what was necessary to secure all that we have gained and all the Iraqis have gained. The papers today report it as a fact. Secretary Panetta says no decision has been made.…”