Below is Rep. Perlmutter’s statement on the release of General David Petraeus’ Report and testimony before Congress:
“I have the utmost respect for Gen. Petraeus and our troops. I agree with him that once again our brave men and women in uniform have performed with bravery and distinction. Eight months after the surge the progress made by the Iraqi government is negligible. The surge was intended to provide breathing room for the Iraqi Parliament and Prime Minister Maliki’s government to make the political decisions required to stabilize their country and they have not done so.
“Four separate independent reports including the GAO report, the Jones Commission, Special Inspector General for Iraqi Reconstruction (SIGIR) and the National Intelligence Estimate all demonstrate that the Iraqi government has shown no large-scale political improvement, and has met only three of the eighteen benchmarks for success. The President can’t keep moving the goalposts for success and continue to sacrifice more American lives and treasure.
“Gen. Petraeus said that we might return to pre-surge troop levels of 130,000 by July of 2008. That is simply unacceptable. After more than four years since the beginning of the war, we are no closer to ending our involvement and our military is stretched to the breaking point. It is time for a change in direction in.
“For more than two years I have called on the Bush Administration to begin redeploying our troops, including redeployment to nearby bases in the event we need to go in for a quick strike and begin a truly multi-national reconstruction effort. Redeployment of our troops is the only leverage we have left to force the Iraqi government to take charge of their own future and allow the to focus on the threats in and Osama Bin Laden, the person responsible for 9/11.”
