Planning for troop withdrawal

Greg Sargent at TPM Cafe reports that Hillary, Webb Demand Hearings On Pentagon's Iraq Withdrawal Planning 07/23/07.

He provides the text of a letter that Democrats Hillary Clinton, Jim Webb, Evan Bayh (!) and Robert Byrd sent to Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin, whose enthusiasm for fighting the Cheney-Bush administration's Iraq War policies has been less than whole-hearted. They are requesting hearings on the Pentagon's contingency planning for a withdrawal from Iraq. This was the issue over which sleazebag neocon Under Secretary Eric Edelman said Clinton was helping the enemy. Their letter gives a good summary of the reasons for their concern, including:

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Eric Edelman responded to this request on Secretary Gates’ behalf on July 16. A copy of his letter and other correspondence relating to this matter are enclosed for your reference. As you will see, Under Secretary Edelman raised spurious arguments to avoid discussing contingency planning and claimed that premature discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda. His assertion that necessary congressional oversight emboldens our enemies is outrageous.

As you are aware, the roots of the many problems facing our men and women serving in Iraq were planted by the failure of this Administration to develop sound, realistic plans. We cannot afford to repeat the same mistake when our forces redeploy. Congressional oversight will help to ensure that redeployment plans properly address the numerous challenges that our troops will face, including the resources and the diplomatic support required to ensure that any redeployment is safe and orderly. (my emphasis)

Technorati Tags: hillary clinton, iraq war

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