Pelosi: ‘We Should Follow Congressman Murtha’s Lead’ on Iraq

Pelosi: ‘We Should Follow Congressman Murtha’s Lead’ on Iraq

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

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

Washington, D.C. â€" House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi held a news conference today in response to President Bush’s speech on Iraq. Her remarks are below:

â€Å"What we heard today was a commitment to the status quo â€" a status quo that is not working. 

â€Å"The ‘Plan for Victory’ backdrop against which the President appeared at the Naval Academy today was no more accurate than the ‘Mission Accomplished’ backdrop he used over two and a half years ago on the USS Abraham Lincoln. 

â€Å"The President did not have a plan for victory when he went into his war of choice in Iraq, and he did not have a plan for victory today.

â€Å"The American people expected that the President would do more today than just put a new cover and 35 pages of rhetoric on old sound bites.  What the American people wanted from the President today was some evidence that he has heard their concerns. 

â€Å"Clearly, the President fails to understand that a new course is needed in Iraq.  The President has dug us into a deep hole in Iraq; it is time for him to stop digging. 

â€Å"He offered a status quo plan that would not accelerate the training of Iraqi security forces, would not motivate Iraqis to assume security responsibilities more quickly and bring American troops home.

â€Å"Instead, he suggested that we send more troops and spend more money in Iraq.  That is not what the American people want. 

â€Å"The President says that the security situation in Iraq is getting better.   But just because the President says it, does not make it so. 

â€Å"226 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq in just the last three months.  The Generals have told us that the presence of large numbers of U.S. forces in Iraq encourages the insurgents.  The President provided no specifics on how, or when, the number of troops will be reduced.  

â€Å"With more than 2,100 American soldiers killed, thousands more wounded grievously, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent, the President owes the American people more than he provided today. 

â€Å"We should follow the lead of Congressman John Murtha, who has put forth a plan to make America safer, to make our military stronger, and to make Iraq more stable.  That is what the American people and our troops deserve.”