Sheldon Whitehouse: “it is without question that we are on a wrong course in Iraq. The Bush administration's failure to listen to the…”

“it is without question that we are on a wrong course in Iraq. The Bush administration's failure to listen to the American people, failure to plan for the unexpected, and failure to learn from its mistakes has left our Nation less, not more, secure from terror and from the dangers our troops face in Iraq. The expenditure of hundreds of billions of American tax dollars has not only strained our Treasury, but cost us uncountable opportunities to improve the lives of American families and to strengthen our country's future. Every month, we are borrowing and spending over $10 billion to fund the war in Iraq--billions of dollars that we borrow and spend that could help deliver health coverage to children who need it; that could help improve the quality of elementary education and make college more affordable--things that are an essential investment in our Nation's economic strength into the future. In addition to the billions we are spending to continue our military involvement in Iraq--a policy that must change, and soon--we are also spending billions more on reconstruction efforts. In this area alone, between 2003 and 2006, we have spent more than $300 billion. The same President who thinks it is too much to spend $35 billion on American children's health care over the next 5 years had no problem pouring $300 billion into Iraq reconstruction, and I submit that there is very little to show for it.”