Mike Pence: “as America awaits word from our military and diplomatic leaders in Iraq early next week, it is apparent to me that many…”

“as America awaits word from our military and diplomatic leaders in Iraq early next week, it is apparent to me that many in Congress seem prepared to prejudge our progress and dismiss the report of General David Petraeus even before he makes it. Many, as has been done here this morning, cite the recent GAO report as a basis for accepting retreat and defeat in Iraq. But as Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute pointed out recently, the mandate of the GAO report was not to evaluate progress broadly defined in Iraq, it was to determine whether or not the Iraqi Government had met 18 benchmarks set by the U.S. Government. Fred Kagan pointed out that the term ``Anbar'' actually only appears twice in the GAO report, despite the extraordinary progress in the Anbar Province where we have seen Sunni leadership come forward, working with marines, working with the al-Maliki government and defeating terrorism. The so-called ``triangle of death'' is so safe the President of the United States was able to land there and meet with Sunni and Shia leaders earlier this week. I think it is imperative that we stand with our soldiers, we wait and hear from our military and diplomatic leaders, and for the purpose of freedom in Iraq and for the purpose of our national honor, we accept nothing short of victory in that nation.”