Bill Nelson: “I believed the marines were making progress. But there you had just Sunnis and you had al-Qaida that was trying to…”

“I believed the marines were making progress. But there you had just Sunnis and you had al-Qaida that was trying to undermine the Sunni leadership, and the marines working with the Sunnis were having some effect. That is the part of the surge I supported. I did not support the surge going into Baghdad in the middle of the crossfire of a civil war. The President ignored the findings and the warnings of the Iraq Study Group which recommended a comprehensive strategy for changing the course in Iraq. So what has happened? In the last 6 months, we have spent more than $60 billion and we have lost another 600 American lives and many more have suffered grievous injuries. Despite those losses, the sectarian violence has only increased. Yesterday, the President reported that the Iraqi Government has failed to meet many of the benchmarks that we laid out earlier this year. Only the Iraqis can make the compromises necessary to end this war. Our continued open-ended presence has provided them with no incentive to do so. We cannot and we should not be in the middle of their civil war. What we need is a diplomatic solution with an aggressive, diplomatic effort--which was argued by the Iraq Study Group. We also need a political solution instead of a military solution. The possible solution that I am drawn to is the one put forth by Senator Biden.”