Thomas Daschle: “Unfortunately, the Senator in his question makes a very important point. We talked about international involvement. I…”

“Unfortunately, the Senator in his question makes a very important point. We talked about international involvement. I call it more cosmetic than real. As he has noted, there has been minimal involvement in a broad coalition of countries that oftentimes are considered Third World, countries that economically, militarily, do not have the weight and the breadth and depth of power and potential that countries that are traditional allies of the United States have always had. For whatever reason, we cannot involve Europe, we have not involved Russia, we have not involved China, we have not involved India, we have not involved countries in a meaningful, substantive, and consequential way. As a result, as the Senator has noted, the lion's share--over 90 percent of the responsibility financially, militarily, organizationally--has fallen upon the United States. I talked to a young woman in Brookings, SD, on Saturday. She told me she is leaving for Iraq within the month, that she was going to be gone anywhere from 8 to 13 months. She has a family, a job, and she is prepared to do that as a member of the National Guard. She has the right to be very proud of the extraordinary contribution our members of the Guard have made, but they and we have a right to ask, Where is the help from others? Where are the Europeans? Where are the Chinese? Where are the Russians? Where are the Japanese? Why is it that we are asking that young woman to provide 90 percent of the sacrifice?”