Where I Stand

RECLAIMING OUR HONOR IN THE WORLD

Along with all Tennesseans, I stand proud of the men and women from our state who have served tirelessly, some more than once, in Iraq. Most of us know one or more of these heroes personally. For our family, one of them is a close friend, like a son to Patty and me. For other Tennessee families, they are husbands and dads, wives and moms, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors.

Today, it is time for them to come home, with the honor they deserve for the bravery they have shown.

Sadly, they were dispatched to Iraq for trifling reasons, not for the sober war against terrorism that Americans called for after 9/11. Consider what Hans Blix, the U.N. weapons inspector who investigated Iraq, said several months ago:

The war in Iraq is "a tragedy - for Iraq, for the U.S., for the U.N., for truth and human dignity." It was begun, Blix said, after the United States and Britain exaggerated the threat of Saddam Hussein - who was "an oppressor of his own people but no longer a threat to the world." He could have been isolated and controlled - and rendered no more effective than Fidel Castro or Moammar Kadhafi, Blix noted.

Even President Bush's own former spokesman, Scott McClellan, has now said that the president was "not open and forthright on Iraq" and used "propaganda" to sell Americans on the war.

And more than 4,000 American lives could have been spared. The Bush/Alexander/McCain policy has mistakenly put all of our eggs in the Iraq basket while ignoring other key American interests. This cannot go on. It is time to begin drawing our forces out of Iraq and focusing on the other threats putting our nation in peril.

A REASONED WITHDRAWAL

The direct cost of the war in Iraq is more than 10 times what the Bush administration originally estimated. Once the fiscal year 2008 funding process is complete, the cost will go above $600 billion. Based on Defense Department figures, the war is costing more than $200,000 a minute.

It is time for the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own nation - and the civil war that engulfs it. No "surge" of American troops can reasonably expect to end the violence without years of fighting and dying and billions more dollars.

This is a price that most Americans - by a 2-1 margin, according to a recent national survey - are not willing to pay, a message that Senator Alexander apparently doesn't get. It is up to the Iraqi government and its people - on their own nickel - to find a way to make peace.

I support a phased withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, along with a new secretary of defense and Gen. David Petraeus, should be called together Jan. 21 by the newly sworn-in American president - if not earlier by President Bush - to plot the soundest and most pragmatic strategy. Troop redeployment should begin within 30 days from that point and be completed within a year.

We must give our fighting men and women the equipment and the time they need to exit as safely as possible and turn Iraq over to the Iraqis. Then, we must turn our attention and our might to the real challenge of terrorism in the world.

Whenever our troops are serving in combat, they must be treated fairly. That's why I support a proposal by Senator Jim Webb and Senator Chuck Hagel that returns fair limits to the amount of time an active service member spends in Iraq or Afghanistan. Under the "1:1 deployment-to-dwell ration," members of active units would spend the same amount of time at home following deployment that he or she spent during deployment. That ratio is not currently being respected (Army units, for example, now deploy for 15 months with 12 months at home, while Marines typically have less time at home than their last deployment), and that compromises U.S. military readiness.

A TRUER WAR ON TERROR

The nation's 16 intelligence agencies agree that Afghanistan and its border with Pakistan is al-Qaeda's primary safe haven and represents the greatest direct threat to the American homeland. Unlike the Iraq War, I applauded President Bush for attacking Afghanistan. But he made a real mistake in diverting our attention to Iraq while the job there was incomplete.

We have got to re-engage in this fight, but we cannot do it while our military resources are being thrown down the black hole that is Iraq. Our commanders - from Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Gen. George W. Casey, Army chief of staff - have said Iraq is putting the American military under untenable strain.

The Bush policy, which Senator Alexander has supported with his votes and which Senator McCain vows to continue "for 100 years," has left the Middle East region more dangerous than ever. Afghan citizens say the Taliban is operating at will in the countryside.

Barnett Rubin, one of the leading experts on Afghanistan, observes: "Al-Qaeda has succeeded in re-establishing its base by skillfully exploiting the weakness of the state in the Pashtun tribal belt, along the Afghan-Pakistani frontier. In the words of one Western military commander in Afghanistan, 'Until we transform the tribal belt, the U.S. is at risk.'"

I totally agree with the recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group that the United States should increase forces in Afghanistan and responsibly bring forces home from Iraq.

Unlike the Cowboy Diplomacy of this current administration, it will take more than a military effort. It is time for a fresh start. We must re-connect with our old friends and find new allies at the table of diplomacy. We must renounce tactics like torture, regime change and nation-building and again set a moral example in the world.

Only then can we engage in a meaningful global war against terror. It is not a fight we can or should wage alone.

REINING IN IRAN

The nation that insulted all Americans by holding our citizens hostage during the late 1970s still plagues us - now more than ever. Iran's rising power is going unchecked. President Bush, with a green light from Senator Alexander and Senator McCain, has created a chaotic atmosphere in which Iran is flexing its considerable muscle in the Middle East. As a result, the United States and Israel are far less safe.

Regardless of what President Bush has said as he meddles in current presidential politics, we have good reason to join other world powers and have our diplomats talk to Iranian diplomats. We must address its nuclear program and its support for known terrorists throughout the Middle East.

Isolation would deliver a far more effective message than attack. It will draw the attention of Iran's government. It will draw pressure from the Iranian people. And it will draw renewed respect and assistance from other nations of the world.

If our allies "know that the U.S. will go the extra diplomatic mile ... they are much more likely to stand with us if diplomacy fails and force proves necessary," as Senator Joe Biden puts it.

OUR MONEY WHERE OUR NEEDS ARE

As a member of the 111th Senate, my vote will go to improve the health care that our veterans receive. The embarrassment of what has happened at VA hospitals - including Walter Reed - will not continue on my watch.

More than 29,000 American soldiers have been injured in Iraq alone during 5 years of war - a number of them severe brain injuries that will require treatment for years to come.

I also support the educational benefits for veterans proposed by Senator Jim Webb of Virginia: a guarantee that a veteran will receive the highest tuition charged at any public university in his or her home state. Senator Alexander voted against the measure.

Not only should our veterans' needs be a higher priority than spending abroad, so should our own infrastructure. Homes and businesses mowed down by natural disasters - from New Orleans to Macon County, Tennessee - must be rebuilt before we spend any more money on the infrastructure in Iraq. Unlike Senator Alexander, I will see that it happens.

OUR HISTORY, OUR HERITAGE

Ours is not a history of squandering our opportunities. And today, we stand on the brink of a great opportunity to reclaim our standing in the world. But we must be smart, and we must welcome collaboration with other members of the world community - some of whom that do not necessarily govern as we do.

We must be willing to embrace cooperation before confrontation. Otherwise, the moment of opportunity may never come our way again, and the world we leave our children will be a perilous one.

I Want to Hear from You!