Bill Nelson: “The responsiveness we have had thus far, I must say, is nothing short of remarkable. But there are still many concerns…”

“The responsiveness we have had thus far, I must say, is nothing short of remarkable. But there are still many concerns that I have about the reconstruction of that country. The first is that we have an administrative law that hands control over to the Iraqis, but it hasn't been spelled out. It seems as though the decisions and the actions in Iraq are being driven by an artificial deadline--June 30. Why June 30? Are we ready to hand over to these institutions that have no experience in democracy in another 3 months? I don't think so. An expeditious transfer of power to Iraqis certainly may be desirable, but we shouldn't put the cart before the horse and give sovereignty to a governing body that may be less than fully able to handle the political, military, economic, religious, and ethnic strife that may arise from such a premature handover. That would put American lives further at risk and would jeopardize the entirety of our reconstruction efforts today. I am also concerned about the nature of the United States presence in Iraq after the turnover.”