Editorial Roundup: Americans Demand Course Change

Americans are dismayed to see that President Bush and Republicans continue to spin their stay the course strategy, ignoring the facts on the ground in Iraq. Editorial boards across the country echoed the American people’s desire to change course in Iraq, saying “that President Bush can’t delay hard choices in Iraq,” and “Why wait until September…when it is clear that a delay means many more U.S. soldiers killed for minimal progress.”

The following are excerpts from recent editorials from across the country calling for President Bush to re-examine his failed Iraq policy:

Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghampton, New York): Tide shift - Public, Congress calling for Iraq withdrawal. "President Bush, listen to the pleas of the nation and our members of Congress. This is not a time for stubbornness. It is a time to acknowledge this tide shift that is about to envelop you. Accept it; the Iraq effort is simply not winnable…It is your duty to ensure that when the time comes for withdrawal, the utmost detail is paid to plans to bring our troops home safely. Such plans should already be under consideration. If they are not, it is an affront to those who paid the ultimate price and those who remain in your service.” [Press and Sun Bulletin (Binghampton, New York), 7/10/07,]

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Bush can't delay hard choices on Iraq; he must step forward with needed leadership. “President Bush made it clear during his visit to Cleveland on Tuesday that it remains policy as usual in Iraq. No urgency to change. No rush to reassess. Yet, disturbingly, that means the president is the last to realize how dire U.S. choices are becoming.” [Cleveland Plain Dealer, 7/12/07,]

Hartford Courant: Mr. Bush’s New Strategy. “As his political supports melts away, the president and his political advisers conjure up a new message to cover the same old failed policy. That's an unworthy response to the crisis facing this country.” [Hartford Courant, 7/11/07,]

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: $10 billion per month. "But with Iraq's government disengaged, with too many of its people more interested in settling sectarian scores than in building a nation, with other vital U.S. interests in the Middle East suffering and with the toll of the dead and injured mounting with no end in sight, it would be past time to get of Iraq even if Iraq's oil revenues were (as former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz once promised) paying the bills.” [St. Louis Post Dispatch, 7/11/07,]

Bangor Daily News (Maine): Don't Wait For September. “As the Senate again turns its attention to Iraq, one question should dominate the debate: Why wait? Why wait until September to decide to redeploy U.S. troops when it is clear that a delay means many more U.S. soldiers killed for minimal progress… Congress does not need to wait to hear from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, before deciding that reducing the number of troops in Iraq and moving those that remain out of Baghdad, along with increasing diplomacy with Iraq’s neighbors, is necessary.” [Bangor Daily News (Maine), 7/10/07,]

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Iraq: Start the Pullout. “It’s clear a change in course is required. By throwing more troops in, we've tried one direction. It's time to try another tactic by implementing a pullout plan…The question (and we fear we may already know the answer) is this: Will this administration ever admit its error in first entering the country into this war and then upping the ante? If not, we'll have to wait until 2008 to take proper action.” [Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 7/9/07,]

ENDS

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