Jack Reed: “President Bush is fond of slogans over strategy. We have heard them--``bring them on,'' ``cut and run,'' ``as they stand…”

“President Bush is fond of slogans over strategy. We have heard them--``bring them on,'' ``cut and run,'' ``as they stand up, we will stand down.'' As my colleague, Senator Snowe, and our cosponsors have pointed out, he is fond of placing hopes over reality. Well, the reality today is threefold. First, the precise steps must be taken by Iraq's political leaders, and they have not done that. Second, we cannot sustain this level of force past next spring because of the limits of our military structure. Third, the President has lost the confidence of the American people and the public support, and you cannot conduct a strategy without that. That is not a political comment, that is a strategic tactical comment. According to the Field Manual, and I quote: At the strategic level gaining and maintaining U.S. public support for a tactical deployment is critical. We must change our strategy in Iraq. No strategy can be sustained, regardless of the slogan, without the necessary troops and strong public support, and in this case decisive action by the Iraqi political leadership. The longer we delay--the longer we delay--the more public support erodes and options to avoid a more chaotic redeployment disappear.”