Jay Rockefeller: “the calendar has just turned to October. The long-awaited month of September has passed. Why September? September, the…”

“the calendar has just turned to October. The long-awaited month of September has passed. Why September? September, the month of the Petraeus report, was to be the month of accountability for Iraq, for its Government, and a time for accountability of the President's policy in Iraq. Instead, the result of the long-awaited month of September is that we are, once again, staying the course, as the President would have us do. We were not able to change course through the Defense authorization bill which passed yesterday, though many of us tried. Our efforts to change the mission away from deep involvement in Iraq's civil war and toward a more narrow focus on fighting al-Qaida failed, by a narrow margin, but failed. Efforts to enforce the transition with the power of the purse came up short as well. Tragically, for well over 4 years into this war, at a time when the Army chief of staff is sounding the alarm about readiness of our Army, the Senate was not even able to provide our troops and their families with predictable deployment schedules--a stunning week. This is far less than the American people expect from us, when they elected us to do far more. Over the next few months, I implore my colleagues to use this time well and to think deeply about what our commitment in Iraq means to our future and the world.”