General David Petraeus, recently said: 'There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq

[The Straight Story]

Pelosi on Iraq Bill: 'Benchmarks Without Deadlines Are Just Words; After Four Years, Words Are Not Enough'
(NOTE: Pasted more than usual paragraphs as this is a public statement)

...

"Mr. Speaker, today is an historic day. The new Congress will vote to end the war in Iraq.

"Any discussion of the war in Iraq must begin with a tribute to our troops. This day, and every day, we thank our troops for their courage, their patriotism, and the sacrifices they are willing to make. For four years, under the most dangerous and demanding conditions imaginable, they have done everything asked of them.

"As Members of Congress, our first responsibility is set forth in the Preamble of the Constitution -- to provide for the common defense.

"As our leading national security experts, Chairmen Skelton, Murtha, and Obey understand that first responsibility, and are deeply concerned about the effect of the war in Iraq on our national security, especially our troop readiness.

"As I have said from the beginning, the war in Iraq is a grotesque mistake.

"As the Iraq Study Group said in December, the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating.

"After four years of war, Iraq is in chaos, and the government is not being held accountable.

"The Administration is sending troops into battle that are not mission ready.

"And when they come home, they are not being honored as the heroes they are. The revelations of appalling conditions at Walter Reed Army Hospital and VA facilities across the nation remind us once again that our troops have been sent into war with no plan to care for them when they come home.

"Our commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, recently said: 'There is no military solution to a problem like that in Iraq.' Yet the President's response to escalating levels of violence is to deploy more troops -- a strategy that has been tried without success on three previous occasions.

"In the short time since the escalation began, disturbing facts have come to light, among them.

"The admission by General Peter Pace, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that he is "not comfortable" with the readiness of Army units in the United States.

"The declaration, whereby the Department of Defense has finally admitted that 'elements of a civil war do exist in Iraq.' In fact, it is even worse than that.

"The conclusion by the special inspector general that the failure of the reconstruction effort in Iraq was caused by a lack of planning, coordination and oversight.

more here:
http://www.house.gov/pelosi/press/releases/March07/Supplemental.html

[Bonobo]

1. "Petraeus" rhymes with "Betray US"... Coincedence? Hmmm?

[Jonathan50]

2. Funny you should say that..

http://balkin.blogspot.com/2007_01_07_balkin_archive.html

Incidentally, I offer the following sidenote about General Petraeus, by almost all accounts an enormously accomplished man: A student of mine at the UT Law School, who had had combat experience in both Afghanistan and Iraq, referred to him as "General Betrayus" because of what was thought to be his inordinate interest in good publicity (and presumed self-promotion) rather than concern for his troops. I have no idea whether this is fair, but I do know that this is what my sober and thoughtful student told me.

[Bonobo]

3. Sorry to hear I'm not as original as I hoped.

I love that fabulous cartoon of the vietnam vet on your sig line. Where did you get it?

[Jonathan50]

4. I haven't a clue...

I've been saving political cartoons for a long time and that's just one I picked up somewhere..

I was going through some old backup CDs looking for something else and happened to see it and decided it would be appropriate.

Here's another I kind of like, I have no clue where I got it either.