[Davis Democrats] "Wait till September"--from DNC--the time is now up to decide

[John Chendo]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Tom McMahon <democraticparty at democrats.org>
Reply-To: <dnc-003nh00QET at mailer.democrats.org>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 10:47:45 -0500
To: John Chendo <jac07 at dcn.org>
Subject: "Wait till September"

  
    
   <http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp>
Dear John, President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have been telling
us to wait for the so-called "Petraeus Report" for months before we change
the course in Iraq. Now with relentless bloodshed and no political solution
in sight, President Bush wants more time for his failed war. Tell Congress
that their time is up -- find a new course for Iraq:
http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp <http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp> All
summer, Republicans have used the so-called "Petraeus Report" to delay
dealing with growing anti-war sentiment. In June, Senate Republican leader
Mitch McConnell said:
> "I think everybody anticipates that there's going to be a new strategy in the
> fall. I don't think we'll have the same level of troops, in all likelihood,
> that we have now. The Iraqis will have to step up, not only on the political
> side, but on the military side, to a greater extent. We're not there forever.
> I think they understand that, and the time to properly evaluate that, it
> strikes me, is in September."
And in July, President Bush said,
> "I welcome a good, honest debate about the consequences of failure, the
> consequences of success in this war. But I believe that it's in this nation's
> interests to give the commander a chance to fully implement his operations. I
> believe Congress ought to wait for Gen. Petraeus to come back and give his
> assessment of the strategy that he's putting in place before they make any
> decisions."
This week, General Petraeus testified before Congress, asking for more time.
He wants to wait until March to make recommendations about bringing our
troops home. Tell them that the time to make those decisions is right now --
just as they've been saying all summer. http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp
<http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp> According to the Washington Post, many
experts have questioned data behind the general's optimistic assessment of
the war, accusing the Pentagon of "cherry-picking positive indicators." Even
in December 2006, the Iraq Study Group reported "significant under-reporting
of violence." In fact, this has been the bloodiest summer for American
soldiers since the war began. And when it comes to the Iraqi government,
there's even less progress. The surge was supposed to help give breathing
room in the political process, but the U.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO) found that two and a half years after the first election, the Iraqi
government has met just three of the 18 benchmarks set by Congress. Kenneth
Katzman, author of a report for the non-partisan Congressional Research
Service, put it this way:
> "My assessment is that because of the number and breadth of parties boycotting
> the cabinet, the Iraqi government is in essential collapse. That argues
> against any real prospects for political reconciliation."
Add your name to the list of people telling Congress that this isn't a war
that's going to be won with military might, now or six months from now. It's
time to change the course and redeploy our troops from Iraq:
http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp <http://www.democrats.org/TimeIsUp>
President Bush cherry-picked intelligence to make his initial case for war
over four years ago. Since then he has stifled dissent and distorted the
truth to sell his failing strategy to the rest of us. The Republicans accuse
Democrats of setting arbitrary dates for withdrawal -- but it's the
Republicans who set arbitrary dates for delay. Sincerely, Tom McMahon
Executive Director 

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