Washington, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Mark Udall released the following statement on tomorrow's fifth anniversary of President Bush's “Mission Accomplished” speech about Iraq:
“I voted against the war in Iraq because, as I said at the time, the Bush Administration was rushing to war without necessary international support, and no clear plan for preventing the chaos that would follow after Saddam Hussein was overthrown. I was concerned that a prolonged conflict would devolve into civil war. In the five years since President Bush declared an “end to major combat operations” in Iraq -- an announcement trumpeted as ‘Mission Accomplished' in Iraq -- we have lost thousands of our brave servicemen and women, seen tens of thousands more wounded, and spent half a trillion dollars in taxpayer money.
“Yet the President's ‘mission’ is no clearer, he has still offered no exit strategy, and our enemies in Afghanistan have regained their strength, while our armed forces have been stretched to the breaking point.
“On this five-year anniversary of ‘Mission Accomplished,’ we honor the extraordinary skill, determination and endurance of our men and women serving in Iraq and the families they have left behind. I join all Americans in thanking them for their sacrifice. They are in our prayers. But make no mistake: this anniversary also serves as a sobering reminder of the President's failures of leadership in Iraq and the need for new leadership that will bring our open-ended military engagement in Iraq to a close, and re-focus on the very real terrorist threats we face in Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
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To contact the Udall press office, call Tara Trujillo at 720-333-3425 or Heather Fox at 303-725-6595.