President Wrong on Veto

If the President thinks that by vetoing this bill he is ending efforts to change the direction of this war, he is mistaken. We will continue, in as many ways as possible, to force the President to see that a military solution is unrealistic without a political, diplomatic and economic strategy.


The President may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war and spending $8 billion a month in Iraq while problems go unaddressed at home. But the American people are not. We will always make sure the troops have what they need, but this President - and the Republicans who are letting him continue this war - need to wake up.

In the coming days, we will continue to reach out to the President. We hope the Senate Republicans who have spent more time protecting the President than listening to their constituents will work with us as well. A bipartisan majority of Congress sent the president a bill to fully fund our troops and change the mission in Iraq. The President refused to sign it. That is his right, but he now has an obligation to explain his plan to responsibly end this war and hold the Iraqis accountable for meeting the benchmarks he himself has proposed.

Our troops are the only ones facing consequences in Iraq while everyone else gets a free pass. That is wrong, and it is time to hold this Administration accountable for its failed policies and have the Iraqis take responsibility for their own future.