María Elvira Salazar: “I am frustrated that we did not reach a bipartisan consensus on a new way forward that could begin to bring an end to…”

“I am frustrated that we did not reach a bipartisan consensus on a new way forward that could begin to bring an end to this conflict. When I introduced the Iraq Study Group Recommendations Implementation Act last spring with Senator Alexander and a bipartisan group of our colleagues, I was hopeful we could work constructively with the President toward the goal of having our troops redeployed by the spring of 2008. The Iraq Study Group Report was issued 10 months ago. Its core recommendation was that we transition our military mission from combat to training, supporting, and equipping Iraqi security forces. The report said that we should condition our support of the Iraqi Government on its performance in meeting important milestones. The report contemplated that we could be out of the combat business by March 31, 2008. But when it came out, the Bush administration failed to embrace it. The Iraqi Government has failed to meet most of the benchmarks described in the report.”