Political Quotes

“earlier this week the Senate took an important step for our troops and for the security of our Nation. For the first time since this ill-conceived war began more than 4 years ago, a bipartisan majority of the Senate told the President to change course in Iraq. As the American people know, this war has lasted going into 5 years, costing the lives of more than 3,200 Americans and tens of thousands of wounded troops, many of whom I met yesterday at Walter Reed. It has also depleted our Treasury of over $400 billion. Despite these facts and the brave sacrifice of our troops, the violence continues unabated in Iraq. Our troops are enmeshed in an unquestionable civil war. The people who attacked us on 9/11 have not been brought to justice, and America is less secure today than it was on 9/11. After all of that, one would think every Member of this body would recognize we are on the wrong path. The more we look at this, it is clear that more of the same will not produce a different result; that success requires a different course. As General Petraeus has said, there is no military solution in Iraq. In fact, he said only 20 percent can be solved militarily; the rest has to be solved diplomatically and economically. That is clear. Unfortunately, as evidenced by the votes of many of my Republican colleagues and the words of the minority leader on the floor earlier today, this is not the case.”