Hillary Clinton Outlines Plans to End the War
Lindsay Levin, Hillary Clinton.com, March 17th
Today at the George Washington University, in a major speech ahead of the five year anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, Hillary Clinton outlined new proposals that build on her three-part plan to end the war responsibly. Five years after the start of the war, we have come to a crossroads. The war has sapped our military and economic strength, damaged U.S. national security, taken the lives of almost 4,000 brave young men and women in uniform, and placed a lasting toll on the tens of thousands of wounded, many with invisible injuries like Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The George W. Bush-John McCain strategy is to continue this failed policy. We need to end this war and bring our troops home. We need to press the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country. We need to rebuild our alliances and enlist the international community in securing stability in Iraq and the region.
We need a Commander-in-Chief who is both committed to ending this war and who has the strength, experience, and leadership to do it the right way. Hillary Clinton is that candidate. As President, she will:I. Start Bringing Our Troops Home
Bring Our Troops Home. As President, one of Hillary’s first official actions will be to convene the Joint Chiefs of Staff, her Secretary of Defense, and her National Security Council. She will direct them to draw up a clear, comprehensive plan for withdrawal that starts removing our troops within 60 days. The plan for withdrawal will incorporate the most effective on-the-ground strategies and tactics to move personnel and equipment efficiently out of combat zones and then out of the country, and will focus on protecting our troops and reducing the risk of attacks as they come home
Protecting Those Who Protect Us. As President, Hillary will ensure that our troops receive sufficient time at home between deployments to rest, reconnect with their families, and receive appropriate training for their next mission.
- Reduce Strains on Our Troops. The war is placing tremendous strain on our armed forces, courting strategic risks posed by a force that is stretched to the breaking point. As President, Hillary will adopt the recommendations of Rep. John Murtha to ensure that our Army troops have as much time at home as they have spent deployed. So for every month they spend in the field, they will be guaranteed one month here at home. Our Marines will have a similar standard appropriate for their service in the Corps. As President, Hillary will also require that the Secretary of Defense certify to the Congress full combat-brigade readiness before they are deployed.
- Assess Impact of Iraq Deployments on Readiness. In the Senate, Hillary won approval of measures to provide greater transparency about the strains on our armed forces, particularly in light of deployments in Iraq. Her amendment to the 2008 Defense Authorization Act requires the Government Accountability Office to assess the ability of ground forces to meet the requirements of increased force levels in Iraq and Afghanistan and to identify and evaluate strategic and operational risks. As President, she will direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a readiness strategy that responds to the findings of these assessments.
Remove Armed Private Military Contractors in Iraq. As U.S. troops begin to withdraw, we should not be leaving unaccountable, often irresponsible private military contractors to carry arms and engage in combat-oriented missions and security functions. Hillary has co-sponsored the Stop Security Outsourcing Act, which seeks to end this practice. As President, Hillary will work toward a ban on armed private military contractors providing security for diplomatic personnel and performing mission-critical functions.
Stop Wasting Money on No-Bid Contracts. Spending on federal contracts has been the fasting-growing part of the discretionary budget over the past six years, yet has received little attention. Under this Administration, the number of no-bid contracts has more than doubled, and between 2000 and 2006, spending on these contracts has increased 121 percent to $103 billion, representing more than half of federal procurement spending. During this time, companies like Halliburton have enjoyed record profits, thanks to a 700 percent increase in taxpayer funds awarded to them. A recent Congressional report identified a wide range of contracts, running into the hundreds of billions of dollars, where federal auditors found massive overcharges, wasteful spending, and poor oversight. Hillary has proposed a measure that would create a new “point of order” against any spending bill in Fiscal 2009 that does not explicitly require a federal agency’s compliance with competitive contracting rules. As President, Hillary will work to ensure that this becomes law and that we stop wasting money on no-bid contracts. Click here to read more of this story at HillaryClinton.com.