Thank you, Senator Kerry.

While your colleagues on the other side of the aisle are trying to stonewall a non-binding resolution opposing a military escalation in Iraq on the grounds that they don’t want to appear to be too peeved at the current administration—and while spokespinners for the current administration are trying to pretend that the three-quarters of the American public who believe we need to set deadlines and bring our troops home in the near term are represented by mere self-serving quislings who refuse to proffer any kind of alternative plans for disengaging from the Iraq quagmire themselves—you, Mr. Kerry, are still making unequivocal statements of principle to be followed and providing specific points of action to be pursued in real time.

You continue to set a high standard for your fellow Senators and your legislative colleagues in the House to follow. Some are bold enough to take a stand with you on these matters; many more are, sadly, too insecure in their convictions or too entangled in their own agendas to follow your lead. That does them no credit and it does our country no good.

Fortunately for us there are other courageous and principled men and women who feel as you do on both sides of the aisle and on both ends of the Hill. With your leadership and their support, Senator Kerry, common sense and sanity will prevail and our troops will be allowed to return home safely instead of being bogged down indefinitely in an open-ended nightmare of civil war in the Middle East.

So thank you, sir. The heartfelt gratitude of your fellow citizens, our brave service members, and a warily watching world are with you one hundred percent for this.

That is a very, very sad graphic.  I can’t help thinking of all those people with loved ones serving in harm’s way and what they think when they see or read news like this.  It just must be awful.  I can’t even imagine what goes through the minds of the families and friends of active duty troops when they see news stories about Iraqi politicians who can’t be bothered to show up for work in their Parliament.  Where is the pressure on the Iraqi government that will force them to confront the problems only they can solve?

I thank Sen. Kerry for introducing this legislation.  I hope the Senate listens this time.  Kerry is squarely in the mainstream of American opinion on this issue.

I would love to hear from other people on this blog who know of soldiers who are serving right now in Iraq.  Hearing the stories of sacrifice at home just gives a sense of urgency to dealing with Iraq.  Other Senators need to hear these stories as well so that they will get behind the idea of bringing our troops home as soon as possible and under the right circumstances.

We owe you so much, for the many years of your principled leadership.

Saddened, still, about your decision not to run again, in this pre-ordained scenario, I will rejoice if maneuvering by both sides halts enough for something positive and bold. If they listen to your pragmatism of a deadline, diplomacy, and firm benchmarks.

I don’t know why your Senate comments are not posted here, but I thought strong and important to share, shortened. If inappropriate, too long, or if there is a link, I am sure the moderator will correct:

“I strongly believe it is not enough for Congress simply to go on record opposing the President’s reckless plan. That’s why I support the legislation introduced by my friend and colleague, Senator Kennedy, which requires a new congressional authorization before any federal funds can be spent on this senseless escalation. I hope we’ll have an opportunity to vote on the legislation in the near future.

Eight months ago in the Senate, thirteen of us stood up against appeals to politics and pride and demanded a date to bring our troops home, to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and fight a more effective war on terror. But while we lost that roll call, I still believe it was the right policy to put in place, to demand accountability, and to leverage action.

Now, I am more convinced than ever that a combination of serious, sustained diplomacy and the enforcement of benchmarks for progress by the Iraqi government, leveraged by a one year deadline for redeployment of U.S. troops, is the best way to achieve our goal of stability in Iraq and security in the region.

Let me emphasize that this strategy does not mean abandoning Iraq in one year: in fact, it provides the President the discretion to leave the minimum number of United States troops necessary to complete the training of Iraqi security forces, go after terrorists, and protect United States facilities and personnel.

That is why I will again introduce legislation that offers a comprehensive strategy for achieving a political solution and bringing our troops home within one year. We have to find a way to end this misguided war and bring our troops home, and I believe this legislation, while protecting all the interests I described, can do that.

Some say that opponents of the President’s failed policy in Iraq do not offer an alternative – nothing can be further from the truth. Sending more troops into Iraq is not a strategy – it is simply more of the same tactic that has already failed. This legislation offers a comprehensive military and diplomatic strategy that incorporates many of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group to provide us with the best chance to succeed.—including launching a major diplomatic initiative – including holding a summit with all of Iraq’s neighbors – including Iran and Syria – and creating an international contact group, enforcing a series of benchmarks for meeting key political objectives, shifting the military mission to training Iraqi security forces and conducting targeted counter terrorism operations, and maintaining an over-the-horizon presence to protect our interests throughout the region.

The one year deadline is not arbitrary. In fact, the Iraq Study Group report effectively sets a goal of withdrawing U.S. combat forces from Iraq by the first quarter of 2008, or within approximately 1 year. This date was based on the timeframe for transferring responsibility to Iraqi security forces set forth by General Casey and on the schedule agreed upon with the Iraqi Government itself for achieving key political security objectives. The President even said that under that new strategy, responsibility for security would be transferred to Iraqis before the end of this year. That is how unarbitrary it is. The President has said it, our generals have said it, the Iraq Study Group has said it.

It is time for Iraqis to assume responsibility for their country, and that is not just a statement. We need a timetable which forces Iraqi politicians to confront reality and start making the hard compromises necessary to find the political solution. Americans should not be dying because Iraqi politicians refuse to compromise and come together. They are using the security blanket of American presence in order to avoid making those compromises, and we need to get about the business of leveraging the compromise that is the only solution to what is happening in Iraq.

My recent trip to Iraq and the Middle East strongly reinforced my view that setting this deadline is the key to making Iraqis stand up for Iraq. We must give the Iraqis more control over their own destiny, as they have repeatedly requested—and make them accountable for making the hard political compromises necessary to achieve a lasting political solution. That means recognizing that Iraqi politicians have repeatedly shown they only respond to deadlines – a deadline to transfer authority, deadlines to hold two elections and a referendum, and a deadline to form a government.

Conversely, without hard deadlines hopes for progress in Iraq have been frustrated. When Prime Minister Maliki took power in May, General Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad said the new government had six months to make the political compromises necessary to win public confidence and unify the country. They were right, yet with no real deadline to force the new government’s hand, that period passed without meaningful action—and we are now seeing the disastrous results.

Mr. President, it has been nearly 4 years since the invasion of Iraq. For four years, we have been hearing from this Administration that progress is right around the corner. We’ve been hearing the Iraqis are near a deal on oil revenues, that they are making progress towards reconciliation – but we still haven’t seen any results.

To ensure that history does not repeat itself, we must also enforce the interim benchmarks agreed upon by the Iraqi government for meeting key objectives on national reconciliation, security and governance. Meeting these benchmarks is key to forcing the Iraqis to reach a sustainable political agreement—but without any enforcement mechanism, they are little more than a wish list. That’s why, as the Iraq Study Group report suggests, this legislation calls on the President to condition United States political, military, or economic assistance on meeting these benchmarks.

I also believe a deadline is essential to getting Iraq’s neighbors to face up to the realities of the security needs of the region. They all share our interest trying to bring stability to Iraq, and they must play a more active and constructive role in helping the parties reach a political solution and aiding in the reconstruction effort. This deadline will help create the sense of urgency that is necessary to bring about real results.

We cannot turn back the clock and reverse the decisions that brought us to this pass in Iraq and the Middle East. We cannot achieve the kind of clear and simple victory the Administration promised the American people so often even as the conditions in Iraq grew worse and worse. But we can avoid an outright defeat. We can avoid creating the chaos we say we want to avoid. We can avoid a victory for our adversaries by identifying specifically what we can and cannot accomplish in Iraq.

With a new Congress comes a new responsibility: to get this policy right. That starts with preventing the President from going forward with this senseless escalation. And it has to end with finding an exit strategy that preserves our core interests in Iraq, in the region, and throughout the world.”

It appears there will be a press conference on Wednesday with Senators John Kerry, Patty Murray, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and
Jon Soltz and Andrew Horne, of VoteVets.org:

Senate Democrats to Join Veterans in Demanding Debate on Iraq Escalation

Keith Olbermann did briefly mention that Kerry had a withdrawal plan, within the frustrating Senate-Republicans-don’t-want-to-debate-the-Iraq-War story.  As usual, Senator Kerry has a comprehensive plan on what to do about Iraq.  What I found stunning watching excerpts of a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing yesterday was that, apparently, the Iraqi government didn’t WANT more American troops, so they had to be CONVINCED that they needed us.  That is just nuts, and just another example of how clueless the Bush administration is of understanding the political inner-workings in Iraq.  Thankfully, we have some in the Senate who do get what is going on, and have offered plans on how to get out of Iraq.