Not Another Dime without a Timeline (Rep. Barbara Lee)

Congress should not approve another dime for any measure for continuing the occupation of Iraq that does not include a clear timeline for safe and timely redeployment.

Next week Congress is likely to vote on the expected FY08 omnibus bill, which may include funding to continue the occupation of Iraq. Now is not the time to lower the bar on the Bush administration on Iraq funding.

The President’s 10-year, trillion dollar war in Iraq has already cost America too much — too many lives lost, too many devastating injuries sustained, too many taxpayer dollars spent, and too much damage to our reputation in the world — creating an even greater terrorist threat to the United States.

Insisting on safe and timely redeployment makes perfect sense and is in line with what the American people have asked for. But congressional Republicans would rather play politics than pressure the White House to do the right thing.

American troops have performed heroically in Iraq. However, President Bush’s troop surge was designed to give Iraqis the opportunity to make political progress and political progress in Iraq has been virtually nonexistent. Intelligence experts concur that there is no military solution to the problems in Iraq.

It is the Bush administration and the Republicans who need to change their strategy. I have called on my colleagues to only fully-fund the timely redeployment of our troops.

It is time to take tough action to do what the American people want to protect our troops on the ground and bring them home as safely and as soon as possible.