Boehner to Democrats: Wait until September

Today was another watershed in the debate over Iraq policy, with President Bush releasing an interim report on progress there, the Senate debating the issue and the House approving legislation that would require the withdrawal of U.S. troops starting in 4 months.



House Minority Leader John Boehner, West Chester, responded:



“Today’s report provides Americans with a snapshot of the progress, setbacks, and ongoing challenges we face in Iraq. The progress made on reducing violence and improving security in Iraq, after less than one month of full troop strength, has been a positive development. But we need to see more progress from the Iraqi people and their government on key political benchmarks where the progress has not been satisfactory.

“My Democratic friends say they want to withdraw American forces from Iraq immediately, but the bill on the House floor doesn’t do that. Instead, we’re engaged in yet another partisan debate that accomplishes only one thing: it gives our enemies another public relations victory. The Democrats’ bill fails to protect our troops, making them all pawns in a partisan political game, and it publicly undermines General Petraeus just weeks after we gave him the full resources needed to implement the Baghdad Security Plan.

“The American people believe that our military commanders, not Washington politicians, are in the best position to make critical national security decisions and so do Republicans. General Petraeus and our troops are hard at work in their mission now, they deserve our full support, and we look forward to hearing the General’s report and recommendations in September.”