Political Quotes

“my vote today for Robert Gates is a vote for significant change in our Iraq policy. Last month, the American people uniformly rejected the policy-by-slogan approach to Iraq, rejected the false choice between 'cut-and-run' and 'stay the course' rejected ideological, insular, and wrongheaded leadership at the Pentagon. Dr. Gates' challenge will be to help President Bush chart a new course that takes a realistic view of the deteriorating situation in Iraq and makes the hard decisions to salvage an acceptable outcome to this long and misguided war. There are several signs that give me hope that Robert Gates is up to this challenge. First and most important is the environment in which Gates is taking the Pentagon's helm. Following the election, it is clear the American people expect significant change in Iraq. President Bush nominated Gates with a mandate to find 'fresh perspective and new ideas' for Iraq. And today's Iraq Study Group's report helped create a framework to move forward, in a bipartisan fashion, with a shift in U.S. policy.”