Reply #25: From his website:

[undeterred]

Iraq
I was a strong critic of the war prior to the US invasion of Iraq. I served on a foreign policy advisory group for Paul Wellstone and met with Paul before he took his courageous vote against the war. I debated Congressman Jim Ramstad prior to the war. I said then that we were being lied to; that the administration was cultivating a politics of fear to justify a previously planned war; that the real objectives of the war were to control Iraq’s oil and assure military domination of the Middle East; and that the war would be a disaster for Iraq and for the United States.

I call for the United States to announce immediately its intention to end the occupation of Iraq, with the goal of withdrawing all US troops (and all private contractors) in a period of approximately six months.

The Bush administration never had an exit strategy for Iraq because it does not plan on leaving. The Bush administration invaded and occupies Iraq in pursuit of two principle goals: to establish permanent military bases and to control Iraq’s vast oil supplies. Responsibly ending the occupation depends on rejecting these goals.

Most Iraqis oppose the US occupation and will never agree to the United States having permanent military bases or controlling Iraqi oil. The Bush administration’s recent escalation (surge) does nothing to address Iraqi grievances. We are no closer to a political resolution of conflicts that separate Iraqi factions and the reasons Iraqis are hostile to US forces continue to fester.

Ending the occupation is the essential first step to reconciliation within Iraq. The United Nations, international community and Iraq’s neighbors could help promote Iraq stability and reconciliation but they will not help the United States establish permanent military bases or control Iraqi oil. Their assistance depends on ending the US occupation.

We have a moral and fiscal responsibility to help reconstruct Iraq, to help the more than 4 million Iraqi refugees created by the war and to fully support returning US veterans.

All of our hopes and dreams are held hostage to the Iraq war. The $12 billion per month we spend on the war not only hurts Iraqis, it also cripples domestic efforts to address pressing environmental, health, education and other needs at home. It is shameful that the Bush administration demands hundreds of billions of dollars to continue an unnecessary war while refusing to adequately fund programs for returning vets or health care programs for uninsured US children.

Re-orienting our foreign policy
President Bush calls for military expenditures of $650 billion in 2008 to be paid for with cuts in 141 programs including health care, education, development assistance and the environment.

Congress devoted 57 cents of every dollar it appropriated in 2006 to military spending, and less than four cents to education, less than three cents to nutrition, about two cents to housing, less than two cents to the environment, about one penny to foreign aid and less than 1/2 cent to job training.

We have to reorient our thinking about national and global security. Our security depends on the health of our communities, mutual respect, just and sustainable economies, international partnerships, the well-being of others, and the ecological health of the planet.

We must bring a responsible end to the Iraq War within 6 months and ensure that returning veterans receive the medical care and other support they need. We need to improve prospects for peace in the Middle East through determined, balanced diplomacy.

http://www.jackforsenate.org/foreign-policy.htm