U.S. Senator Ken Salazar

Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs Committees

 

2300 15th Street, Suite 450 Denver, CO 80202 | 702 Hart Senate Building, Washington, D.C. 20510

 

 

For Immediate Release

September 17, 2007

CONTACT:Stephanie Valencia – 202-228-3630

Cody Wertz 303-350-0032

 

 Sen. Salazar Comments on Recent Trip To Iraq

WASHINGTON, DC – After returning from Iraq today, United States Senator Ken Salazar released the following statement regarding his trip. Over the weekend, Senator Salazar met with Colorado troops, U.S. military officials, and Iraqi leaders, including Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Iraqi Vice President and Sunni leader Tariq al-Hashimi, and Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. This was Salazar’s third trip to Iraq.

“Last night I walked the streets and the markets of Baghdad with our American soldiers. The bravery, devotion and performance of our American troops are stellar. I am forever proud of them. Earlier in the day, we had extensive meetings with others, including Prime Minister Maliki, President Massoud Barzani of the Kurdistan Region, and Sunni leader and Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who is the head of the largest Sunni coalition in Iraq’s parliament.

“Based on my three trips to Iraq, and a review of the many reports delivered to Congress over the past month, I believe we must take decisive action to force the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people to secure the peace for Iraq. The Iraqis must secure the peace for themselves. The United States cannot bring it to them.

“The President’s plan to keep our American troops in Iraq at the 130,000 pre-surge levels through the 2008 election will not force the Iraqi government to do what it must do now. We, therefore, need a mission change. I have said for many months that we need to begin the transition of our troops’ mission in Iraq from one of combat to one of training and support. That was the core recommendation of the Iraq Study Group.

“After meeting with Iraqi leaders it became clearer in my mind that there is no clear military solution and that we should not leave our troops in the middle of sectarian strife dating back hundreds of years.

“We have seen the results of the tremendous work of our troops. Their sacrifices and those of their families have been extraordinary. They have done everything possible to create a window of opportunity for the Iraqi government to progress toward national reconciliation. But the Iraqi government is not there. The United States must send a message very loud and clear to the Iraqi leadership that they need to act decisively and that time is running out.

“An acceptable level of stability will not be achieved until there is a political reconciliation among the major sectarian factions of Iraq. The Iraqis must achieve political reconciliation, otherwise the war will continue endlessly, and our brave American troops will be left indefinitely to referee a civil war that could spiral out of control at any time.”

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