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 | | From: | torresD | | Subject: | "But the military option is clearly not working." Woolsey said Tuesday. | | Date: | Mon, 24 Jan 2005 04:43:18 GMT |
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Woolsey said Tuesday.
"But the military option is clearly not working."
http://arguscourier.com/news/news/woolsey050119.html
Woolsey urges withdrawal from Iraq
January 19, 2005
By EMILY BRADY
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF
It wasn't fan mail that Lynn Woolsey
sent President Bush last week,
but rather a request for a
complete change of foreign
policy.
In the letter the Petaluma Democrat sent Jan. 12,
signed by 15 fellow members of the House of
Representatives,
oolsey called for the immediate
withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
"While it may be logistically difficult
to immediately remove every American soldier,
we urge you to take immediate action to begin
the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
This is the only way to truly support our troops,"
her letter stated.
Woolsey,
who represents Sonoma and Marin counties in Congress,
was joined in signing the letter by fellow House
Democrats that included Reps.
Sam Farr of Carmel,
Barbara Lee of Oakland,
Pete Stark of Fremont and former
presidential candidate Dennis
Kucinich from Ohio.
The Democrats' letter stated that the
March 19, 2003 invasion of the Middle
Eastern country and subsequent occupation
has been anything but successful and that
Iraq is no closer to being a stable democracy
today than it was two years ago.
Mounting casualties of both U.S.
troops and Iraqi civilians were
called into question and the
on-going American presence was
described as "infuriating"
to Iraqis and people throughout
the Arab world, especially in
light of the absence of weapons
of mass destruction and links to
the al Qaeda terrorist organization.
"The events of the last two years have
not only intensified the rage of the
extremist terrorists," the letter read,
"they have also ignited civil hostilities
in Iraq that have made American and Iraqis
substantially less safe."
The solution, the letter states,
is for U.S. soldiers to come home.
"By removing our troops from the country,
we will remove the main focus of the
insurgents' rage," the letter said.
Woolsey's letter came one week after
she issued a Jan. 3 statement calling
for the return of U.S. troops.
The "final straw," Woolsey said,
was the resignation of 700 election
officials in the Iraqi city of Mosul on Dec. 30.
"If the men and women charged with
administering the Iraqi election fear
for their safety,
then our American troops are sitting ducks," she said.
"We should not abandon Iraq;
there is still a critical role for
the United States in providing the
development aid that can help create
a civil society,
support education and rebuild
Iraq's economic infrastructure,"
Woolsey said Tuesday.
"But the military option is clearly not working."
Woolsey has received no response from the White House.
(Contact Emily Brady at ebrady@arguscourier.com)
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