Kirk Watson: “we have had some fierce debates here in the Congress about our occupation of Iraq. Many Republicans insist that…”

“we have had some fierce debates here in the Congress about our occupation of Iraq. Many Republicans insist that redeploying our troops from Iraq will lead to failure there. My Democratic colleagues and I see it much differently. We see clearly that our continued occupation is a debacle that prevents Iraqis taking control of their own nation and destiny. But what Democrats and Republicans can agree on is that Iraq is not America's only national security concern. America faces several potent strategic challenges: al Qaeda. Afghanistan. Iran. North Korea. If we continue to exhaust our military in Iraq, we risk being at a disadvantage facing these other dangerous threats. This bill ensures that our troops get the rest, recuperation and retraining they need to be most effective. If we fail to provide our troops with the time they need to rest, refit, and retrain at home, we are putting them at a disadvantage when they return to theater. Furthermore, the common sense provisions in this bill mean that we are paying attention to another group that has borne the brunt of this war: our soldiers' families. It has been said that there are two ways to break the military: you can break the soldier, or you can break the family. Our troops agreed to accept a certain level of hardship when they enlisted. The least we can do in return is make sure that we have their back, and are giving them the time they need to recuperate.”