Jay Inslee: “Well, I have some really bad news for the American people tonight: there was not a plan for the security of Iraq the…”

“Well, I have some really bad news for the American people tonight: there was not a plan for the security of Iraq the week before the invasion, there was not a plan for the security of Iraq the week after the invasion, there was not a plan for the security of Iraq when the President declared the mission accomplished in May, 2003, and there is not a plan for the security of Iraq tonight that has a good chance of success. Now, why do I say that? And this is very, very frustrating to me. Because 7 days before the invasion of Iraq, we, on a bipartisan basis in several meetings, begged the administration to show us the plan for the security of Iraq after the Iraqi Army folded, which we knew was going to happen at some point. And the administration officials essentially said a week before the invasion, we are giving serious thought to that. Well, I just do not think that is good enough. And that is one of the reasons Iraq exploded into looting because the President did not listen to General Shinseki when he told him, and this is the fifth mistake, that we need hundreds of thousands of boots on the ground to prevent Iraq from going up in flames after the Iraqi Army collapses.”