“It’s time to start bringing our troops home from Iraq
After leading us into war under false pretenses, the Bush administration has dug us a deep hole
in Iraq. The litany of mistakes is endless: the failure to send enough troops, the botched de-
Beathification, the refusal to stop looting in the aftermath of the invasion, the firing of the Iraqi
army (essentially telling hundreds of thousands of young Iraqi men, “You’re fired, get out of
here, we’re not going to pay you, and take your weapons with you!”) – and especially the
Republican Congress’s refusal to do any oversight of the war.
Norm Coleman, as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, didn’t even hold
a single hearing into contracting by Halliburton and other corporations – while waste, fraud, and
the misappropriation of billions of dollars torpedoed the reconstruction of Iraq. Every dollar that
didn’t go towards getting up the electricity and the water, taking care of the sewage, and putting
Iraqis to work alienated the population and fueled the insurgency, making a difficult mission
impossible and sending the country into total chaos.
And today, Senator Coleman continues to vote against bringing our troops home.
Here’s where I stand:
I say it’s time to leave Iraq. Our troops have served magnificently, but even General Petraeus
has stated that military action alone cannot fix Iraq.
It’s been clear for years that this war was a mistake, and that mistake after mistake has been
made in the conduct of it. And in my books, on my radio show, and all over this country, I’ve
been speaking out for years about this sad, tragic mess. Now it’s time for all of us to come to
terms with the truth about the situation there.
There is no reason to believe that the Maliki government is able, or even willing, to meet the
political benchmarks necessary to make progress in Iraq: devising a fair plan to share oil
revenues among ethnic groups, reversing the disastrous de-Baathification and putting Sunnis
back to work, engaging and eliminating sectarian death squads, and starting a reconciliation
process to defuse sectarian tensions.
Conversely, there is every reason to believe that the Maliki government just wants us to stay
there so that they can consolidate their power. Our troops should not be there to make that
happen.
The best way to convince the Iraqi government that we’re leaving is to actually start leaving. I
support immediately beginning the process of bringing our troops home. Our withdrawal should
not be precipitous, and we should have a national conversation about the best way to complete
our disengagement – we should put more thought into how we get out than we did into how we
got in. But we should start now.
At the same time, we should be convening a regional conference including Iran, Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt to come up with a long-term plan for Iraq and ensure that a
regional conflict does not arise. Jordan and Syria have over a million Iraqi refugees. Nobody
wants Iraq to devolve into utter chaos. It’s inconceivable that the Bush administration hasn’t
roused itself to initiate regional diplomacy”
After leading us into war under false pretenses, the Bush administration has dug us a deep hole
in Iraq. The litany of mistakes is endless: the failure to send enough troops, the botched de-
Beathification, the refusal to stop looting in the aftermath of the invasion, the firing of the Iraqi
army (essentially telling hundreds of thousands of young Iraqi men, “You’re fired, get out of
here, we’re not going to pay you, and take your weapons with you!”) – and especially the
Republican Congress’s refusal to do any oversight of the war.
Norm Coleman, as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, didn’t even hold
a single hearing into contracting by Halliburton and other corporations – while waste, fraud, and
the misappropriation of billions of dollars torpedoed the reconstruction of Iraq. Every dollar that
didn’t go towards getting up the electricity and the water, taking care of the sewage, and putting
Iraqis to work alienated the population and fueled the insurgency, making a difficult mission
impossible and sending the country into total chaos.
And today, Senator Coleman continues to vote against bringing our troops home.
Here’s where I stand:
I say it’s time to leave Iraq. Our troops have served magnificently, but even General Petraeus
has stated that military action alone cannot fix Iraq.
It’s been clear for years that this war was a mistake, and that mistake after mistake has been
made in the conduct of it. And in my books, on my radio show, and all over this country, I’ve
been speaking out for years about this sad, tragic mess. Now it’s time for all of us to come to
terms with the truth about the situation there.
There is no reason to believe that the Maliki government is able, or even willing, to meet the
political benchmarks necessary to make progress in Iraq: devising a fair plan to share oil
revenues among ethnic groups, reversing the disastrous de-Baathification and putting Sunnis
back to work, engaging and eliminating sectarian death squads, and starting a reconciliation
process to defuse sectarian tensions.
Conversely, there is every reason to believe that the Maliki government just wants us to stay
there so that they can consolidate their power. Our troops should not be there to make that
happen.
The best way to convince the Iraqi government that we’re leaving is to actually start leaving. I
support immediately beginning the process of bringing our troops home. Our withdrawal should
not be precipitous, and we should have a national conversation about the best way to complete
our disengagement – we should put more thought into how we get out than we did into how we
got in. But we should start now.
At the same time, we should be convening a regional conference including Iran, Syria, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt to come up with a long-term plan for Iraq and ensure that a
regional conflict does not arise. Jordan and Syria have over a million Iraqi refugees. Nobody
wants Iraq to devolve into utter chaos. It’s inconceivable that the Bush administration hasn’t
roused itself to initiate regional diplomacy”
| Republican Senate Candidate Jack Shepard positions on Issues are 100 % similar to Democratic Senate Candidate Al Franken Iraq |
"A pre-emptive attack on Iraq, killing Iraqi Civilians will cause an immediate Humanitarian Emergency. The risks of a pre-emptive are greater than the risks which the Japanese Government took when it, decided to Bomb the American Military and Civilians at Pearl Harbour." Statement of warning against a pre-emptive attack on Iraq by Dr. Jack Shepard in published article Sept. 2, 2002 |
| "The invasion of Iraqi will be a major setback in the American War on Terrorism with a potential of strengthening the Al Qaeda Network’s ability to recruit members which would increase the likelihood of more and deadlier terrorist attacks in American." Statement of warning against the invasion of Iraq by Dr. Jack Shepard in published article Jan. 30, 2003 |
| Here's where Dr. Jack Shepard stood before the Invasion of Iraq, warning of the dangers involved: |
