Press Releases

Lynch Calls on McCain to Show Responsibility and Offer Plan for Iraq

PAWTUCKET – Even as rockets exploded in the so-called "Green Zone" today in Baghdad, a day before General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker testify before Congress on the Iraq war, John McCain chose to launch another round of irresponsible political attacks rather than offer a real plan for the future in Iraq.  The attack came even though a majority of Americans want our troops to begin withdrawing and 89 percent of Americans think the cost of the war has contributed to the economic problems in our country. [New York Times, 4/4/08]

"Adopting George W. Bush's penchant for cherry-picking the facts and misleading the American people is the wrong approach for John McCain, and the wrong approach for America," said Rhode Island Democratic Party Chair Bill Lynch. "With 12 troops from Rhode Island already having lost their lives in Iraq, Rhode Islanders want to hear a plan for Iraq going forward, not political attacks designed to distract from McCain's lack of answers on the war. John McCain ought to exercise real responsibility and provide Rhode Islanders and every American with a real plan for Iraq."

In his Kansas City remarks today McCain never explained if he agrees with General Petraeus' concerns that Iraq's leaders are failing to make the political progress the surge was supposed to make possible, and never explained what he would do to encourage that critical political progress. And while his campaign continues to backtrack from McCain's willingness to keep our troops in Iraq for 100 years, McCain himself refused to say whether he plans to build permanent bases in Iraq. And, despite the tremendous economic cost of the war, McCain never said how he plans to pay for his stay the course strategy in Iraq while making President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthy permanent - a prescription for trillions of dollars in new debt. 

"The American people know that 100 years is not a plan," added Lynch, "and that a Commander-in-Chief has to explain not just what he'll do in Iraq, but also to bring balance to our Army and National Guard. If Rhode Island’s voters can't count on a plan from McCain while he's running for President, what should they expect if he were to become President?"

Between 2001 and January 2008, there were 2,689 Rhode Island National Guard and Reserve troops deployed in support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. [Source: Department of Defense, 1/31/08.]

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