Kucinich: Interim Progress Report Confirms Now Is the Time to Begin Bringing Our Troops Home

Ohio Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich's congressional website http://kucinich.house.gov/ posted the following press release.

Kucinich: Interim Progress Report Confirms Now Is the Time to Begin Bringing Our Troops Home

Washington, Jul 12 - Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) released the following statement following President Bush’s news conference on the Iraq benchmark interim progress report the White House issued today.

“The Administration has been downplaying the significance of this report all week because they knew the news was grim,” Kucinich said. “The President claims that pulling the troops out now would be dangerous to the region. Isn’t the U.S. occupation already counterproductive to the region? There are more than 3,600 Americans and an estimated one million innocent Iraqis dead because of our continued presence there!

“We do not have to fund the war. We must tell the President NO to any additional funding. No legislation is required. No vote is required. We have the money to bring the troops home. It does not require a vote. The only thing required is honesty, integrity and a willingness to end the war.

“The report states the Iraqi government is not making satisfactory progress toward enacting a law that would privatize their own oil. There has been a broad deception about the content of the hydrocarbon law, a deception which has taken in Members of Congress and the media.

“Misdescribed tactically as a revenue sharing plan, it is in fact a radical plan to privatize Iraq’s oil. The attempted theft of the oil assets of Iraq under the guise of a plan to end the war will keep the war going long into the future.

“The President has requested additional time for his Iraq strategy. Time for what? Time to privatize Iraq’s oil? Time to change the subject with an attack on Iran? Congress must act to end this war and end it now.”