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Pelosi Response to President Bush’s Latest Speech on Iraq

December 14, 2005

Pelosi Response to President Bush’s Latest Speech on Iraq

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Contact: Brendan Daly/Jennifer Crider, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to President Bush’s speech on Iraq at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington:

â€Å"I am pleased that Iraq appears to be moving towards democracy, as indicated by tomorrow’s upcoming election.  However, democracy is not the reason that President Bush gave for invading Iraq more than 1,000 days ago.  President Bush asserted that Saddam Hussein presented an imminent threat to the security of the United States, a threat that could only be reduced by going to war.  The President was wrong.

â€Å"How much further would we be in the effort to defeat Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, who perpetrated the attacks in the United States, Africa, and the Middle East, if President Bush had not allowed the focus of the war on terrorism to be diverted by invading Iraq?  How much progress could we make in keeping the world’s most dangerous weapons out of dangerous hands if we were not spending $5 billion a month in Iraq?

â€Å"The President claims that there are more than 200,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security personnel.  Although many political and stability challenges remain, those are challenges for the Iraqi people to address.  There are ways for the United States to make Iraq more stable that do not require 160,000 U. S. troops in Iraq and which would make the American people safer and the Middle East more secure.  The President should recognize that fact and send that message to the American people and the Iraqis.”