April 9, 2008

This week, General David Petraeus returned to Capitol Hill to report to Congress on the progress and way ahead in Iraq.  In order to succeed in Iraq, the General has said we must continue to build on what has been accomplished so the Iraqis can make political reconciliations and provide basic services to their citizens.

• Unfortunately, the Democrats have used General Petraeus’ congressional testimony in the past as an opportunity to slander America’s military leaders and politicize the War on Terror.

• In September 2007, Senators Clinton and Obama refused to rebuke MoveOn.org’s malicious attack on General Petraeus in The New York Times in an effort to pander to their liberal base.

• Barack Obama, who once warned that we should not “play chicken with our troops,” also voted against funding America’s men and women who are bravely fighting in harm’s way.

• Al-Qaida is using Iraq as a base of operations, and Osama bin Laden continues to urge his followers to fight in Iraq. It’s unfortunate that Senators Clinton and Obama have failed to acknowledge this reality and continue to call for an arbitrary withdrawal of our troops from the front lines of the War on Terror.

• Thankfully, Senator John McCain’s experience and understanding of the threats facing America stand in great contrast to the Democrats political pandering.

• John McCain believes that we must not fail in Iraq. Winning the war is essential to achieving peace in a region that is critical to American prosperity and national security.  Failure in Iraq will endanger America for generations to come.

• As a war hero, a decorated veteran, and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain understands that the war in Iraq is critically important to our national security and the future of the entire region is at stake.
  
  
• Senator McCain is committed to ensuring our troops and allies continue to control violence in Iraq in order to give the Iraqi government time to establish a political settlement.  In turn, that secure environment in Iraq will accelerate the political and economic growth in the country.
  
  
• John McCain will continue to level with Americans on the mission in Iraq.  His record demonstrates he is the most prepared and experienced candidate to serve as Commander in Chie

This Week’s Note From Jo Ann:

This is a critically important week for us.  We have the opportunity to support our presumptive presidential candidate, Senator John McCain while pointing out that both Senator Clinton and Obama continue to totally ignore the warnings of General Petraeus on the consequences of immediate or premature withdrawal of our troops.

The surge is working.  Overall violence is significantly down, civilian deaths are down, sectarian killings are down, attacks on American forces are down and we have begun bringing some of our troops home as a “return on success.” 

This is the week to reinforce that our candidate for President, Senator John McCain, in contrast to the prospective Democrat candidates, is ready to be Commander in Chief of our great country

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