Tim Walz: “today House committees will hear from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker about the supposed progress being made in…”

“today House committees will hear from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker about the supposed progress being made in Iraq and the need to keep 140,000 U.S. troops there indefinitely. As we listen to this testimony, it is important to remember what our Nation's true goals are and what true, lasting security actually means. A new report out this week from the same experts who advised the nonpartisan Independent Iraq Study Group concludes that political progress in Iraq is at best ``slow, halting and superficial,'' and political fragmentation is ``so pronounced'' that we are no closer to leaving Iraq than we were a year ago. The experts predict that it could take at least 5 to 10 years to produce any real, measurable political reconciliation. Madam Speaker, I would hope that President Bush would read this new report so that he could see how people outside his administration are viewing the situation in Iraq. Such sobering and nonpartisan assessment should serve as a wake-up call that we should not leave 140,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely while the Iraqis are doing virtually nothing to live up to their promises.”