Steve Kagen: “as your Congressman, I'd like to share with you the difficult reality our Nation faces in the religious civil war in…”

“as your Congressman, I'd like to share with you the difficult reality our Nation faces in the religious civil war in Iraq. The truth is things are bad in Iraq and getting worse--with no end in sight. After 4 years of conflict, with more than 3,400 courageous American soldiers dead--and counting--with more than 650,000 civilians killed, and after spending billions and billions of our hard-earned tax dollars on private no-bid contractors, the Iraqi government is still not standing up to help themselves. I was shocked to learn that 1/3 of the elected Iraqi government does not even live in Iraq--they live in London, England--even as our own children are being killed in their centuries-old religious civil war. And their parliament, well, in the middle of a war--they're about to take a 2-month vacation--even as our children continue to make the ultimate sacrifice. Unfortunately, today's vote cannot, and will not, end this war, because we do not have enough democratic votes to overcome the president's veto. And make no mistake--Iraq is President Bush's war-- and he is the only one, today, who can stop it. The current commander of our forces in Iraq told Congress the civil war in Iraq cannot be won militarily--it can only end with a political solution, not a military one.”