'Thompson: We Need to Begin a Phased Redeployment Today'
December 7, 2006
Eureka Times-Standard
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said the Iraq Study Group's report released Wednesday said what “We've known for a long time” -- that the war in Iraq “is spiraling toward chaos and redeployment is necessary.” The 10-member bipartisan study group, chaired by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., told a Washington news conference that President Bush's policy in Iraq “is not working,” and it called for an urgent diplomatic attempt to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008. In his statement, Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, said: “I understand what it's like to be a soldier caught in the cross hairs of political pandering. We had already announced our intentions to leave Vietnam by the time I got there in 1970. I was wounded in June 1970 and, tragically, about 9,500 additional men were killed before we finally left. Once again, we risk ignoring the inevitable at the expense of American lives. We need to begin a phased redeployment today.” Thompson applauded the panel “for acknowledging the crippling cost of this war. We have already allocated more than $500 billion, which gets added to our staggering national debt of $8.6 trillion, about $29,000 per American. This price tag doesn't even include the ongoing and tragic costs for our wounded veterans, nor does it account for the $60 billion we'll need to replace lost, ruined and debilitated military equipment.” ”In addition, the American public is entitled to know how their tax dollars are being spent in Iraq,” Thompson said. “Reports have already indicated that billions in reconstruction funds have been either misspent or unaccounted for, and that's only the incidences we've head about. We need better accountability measures, and I know that the new leadership in Congress will perform this vitally important oversight.” The Iraq Study Group report is available at: https://wid.ap.org/documents/iraq/2006isg--report.pdf
Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, said the Iraq Study Group's report released Wednesday said what “We've known for a long time” -- that the war in Iraq “is spiraling toward chaos and redeployment is necessary.” The 10-member bipartisan study group, chaired by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., told a Washington news conference that President Bush's policy in Iraq “is not working,” and it called for an urgent diplomatic attempt to stabilize the country and allow withdrawal of most U.S. combat troops by early 2008. In his statement, Thompson, a Vietnam veteran, said: “I understand what it's like to be a soldier caught in the cross hairs of political pandering. We had already announced our intentions to leave Vietnam by the time I got there in 1970. I was wounded in June 1970 and, tragically, about 9,500 additional men were killed before we finally left. Once again, we risk ignoring the inevitable at the expense of American lives. We need to begin a phased redeployment today.” Thompson applauded the panel “for acknowledging the crippling cost of this war. We have already allocated more than $500 billion, which gets added to our staggering national debt of $8.6 trillion, about $29,000 per American. This price tag doesn't even include the ongoing and tragic costs for our wounded veterans, nor does it account for the $60 billion we'll need to replace lost, ruined and debilitated military equipment.” ”In addition, the American public is entitled to know how their tax dollars are being spent in Iraq,” Thompson said. “Reports have already indicated that billions in reconstruction funds have been either misspent or unaccounted for, and that's only the incidences we've head about. We need better accountability measures, and I know that the new leadership in Congress will perform this vitally important oversight.” The Iraq Study Group report is available at: https://wid.ap.org/documents/iraq/2006isg--report.pdf
Issues:Defense