Iraq Escalation
Iraq Escalation
In recent weeks, my office has been flooded with thousands of phone calls, letters, and emails from Iowans, overwhelmingly opposing the President's plan to escalate in Iraq. People are upset that Senate Republicans refuse to allow debate on the Warner resolution, which expresses disapproval of the escalation. They simply can't believe that anyone would block discussion on the No. 1 issue confronting our country.
The complaint I am hearing, again and again, is that President Bush and the Republicans just are not listening. They are ignoring the Iraq Study Group recommendations. They are ignoring the clear will of the American people, as expressed in the November election. Instead, they are determined to escalate the war - and to silence debate and dissent by those who oppose it.
The most sobering letters and emails are coming from family members of Iowa National Guard soldiers whose tours in Iraq have been extended to 16 months because of the escalation.
Here's what the wife of one soldier, from Waverly, Iowa, wrote: "I am devastated! How could this happen? How could you let this happen? . . . . I have lost all hope and faith in our government. I don't understand much about politics so my biggest question is: If so many people are against this war and the increase in troops being sent over, then why is the President not listening? Doesn't he care? I voted for him and believed in him and he has let me down."
Another letter was from a mother in Ida Grove, whose 20-year-old son is also having his combat tour extended to 16 months. She writes: "How many of your fellow congressmen have sons, daughters, husbands, wives, nieces or nephews serving in this war? I have a son, a nephew and a niece in Iraq. They joined the Guard for money so they could attend college, not because they were eager to go to war. . . . Please help bring my son home."
Now, these are just two excerpts from the thousands of emails and letters I am receiving from Iowans. Many of them can only be described as heartbreaking. They tell the story of lives disrupted, lives put at risk, lives destroyed - in a war that most Iowans have come to believe was a tragic mistake.
And what compounds the pain for these Iowans is their sense that their leaders in Washington have shut them out and refuse to listen.
Well, I am listening. And as a veteran, myself, I'm angry at the way our soldiers and Marines have been misused and mistreated. The President rushed them into combat without proper equipment, and in insufficient numbers. He has sent many troops back to Iraq for a third and even fourth rotation, without time to retrain and regroup. Now he is sending thousands more troops into Baghdad - without the latest armored vehicles.
I believe the Senate has a duty to debate this escalation. We have a duty to listen to families of the soldiers who are being asked to put their lives on the line for this latest, reckless roll of the dice in Iraq.
The bare minimum that we owe our soldiers and their families is to have a debate in the Senate on the Warner resolution - and an up-or-down vote that makes it clear who supports the President's escalation, and who believes its time to get our troops out of the civil war in Iraq.
http://harkin.senate.gov/