From the Webb campaign...I couldn't agree more!
Today, on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Democratic Senate candidate Jim Webb held a conference call with reporters to discuss the fight against international terrorism and our national security. The following are excerpts from the discussion:
"As we reflect today upon 9/11, many in this country have their own vivid recollections of what happened on that day. I was actually having breakfast with a commandant in the Marine Corps in the Pentagon. I believe that we can not properly remark on the anniversary without a discussion of where our country is in terms of our national security posture.
"When I hear people allege that you cannot be against the war in Iraq and be for the war against international terrorism, I respectfully disagree. After 9/11, I think we lost an historic opportunity as a nation to bring a great deal of the world with us on the war against international terrorism. And we squandered that in the situation in Iraq.
"We are now in a situation where American foreign policy, writ large, is in disarray. I think we need a different set of eyes on the problems. I think we need different approaches to solving the problem. I've been saying for two years that the presence of our combat forces in Iraq drive a great deal of the problem, and we need a formula - and I've advanced it - where we can get our combat forces out of Iraq and at the same time work toward stability in the region.
"In 1952, during the dark days of the Korean War, Dwight Eisenhower said that the administration that failed to prevent this disaster is not the administration that you can count on to fix it. He said that anyone who would give you a date certain doesn't understand war, and anyone who says it can't be done doesn't understand America.
"So what I would be doing - and I've been saying consistently - is getting a clear statement from this country that we have no long-term desire to occupy Iraq. And we're not hearing that. If I were in the Senate right now, I would be focusing on these four large bases being built in the remote areas of Iraq and questioning funding for them if they don't fit into the notion of our eventually leaving Iraq."
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.