For immediate release

“The Administration ditched the ‘stay the course’ rhetoric in time for the mid-term elections, but they haven’t ditched the failed course and that is immoral.

The idea that we’ll stand down as Iraqis stand up is a lie and it’s past time for the truth. This Administration has no plan for Iraq. One day President Bush invites comparisons to Vietnam, the next day Vice President Cheney says Iraq is going remarkably well, and every day the civil war intensifies and young Americans continue to die.

It is time to get tough with the Iraqis. Our own generals argue there's no military solution in Iraq. We can't wait a year for a political solution in Iraq.

For three and a half years, we've had a strategy that will not work. Today the Administration offered a wish list, not a plan with any means of reaching benchmarks or any consequences if they don’t. We need hard deadlines that will make the Iraqis actually meet these benchmarks. We need deadlines to get Iraq and its neighbors to do the diplomacy necessary to achieve a political solution. And we need to make clear that American troops will be leaving within a year to force Iraqis to make the tough compromises. Only then do we have a chance to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our troops home.”