Political Quotes

“this week we passed two milestones in Iraq: The constitution was ratified, and, tragically, the 2,000th American died. These milestones, one positive, one clearly negative, provide us with an opportunity to review our progress in Iraq. This is not a time to debate how we got into Iraq. What is important is resolving the mess. Hear what the experts are saying: Retired Army Lieutenant General William Odom, former head of the National Security Agency, said that the invasion of Iraq ``will turn out to be the greatest strategic disaster in U.S. history.'' Brent Scowcroft, National Security Adviser under the first President George Bush, said, ``You have to know when to stop using force. You can encourage democracy over time, with assistance, and aid, the traditional way. Not how the neoconservatives'' are trying to do it in Iraq. And Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired lieutenant colonel and former Secretary of State Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff at the State Department, said President Bush's foreign policy was ``ruinous'' and said that ``we have courted disaster in Iraq, in North Korea, in Iran.'' These are not the words of partisans or the board members of MoveOn.org. As these experts and the American people know, it is time for a new direction and new priorities. We can do better. The current path is not a path to success. It is time for the President to level with the American people and produce a plan forward. ____________________”