Rep. Courtney Condemns Iraqi Government for Failure to Capitalize on U.S. Troop Surge Intended to Provide ‘Time And Space' for National Reconciliation

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REP. COURTNEY CONDEMNS IRAQI GOVERNMENT FOR FAILURE TO CAPITALIZE ON U.S. TROOP SURGE INTENDED TO PROVIDE ‘TIME AND SPACE' FOR NATIONAL RECONCILIATION

Washington, Sep 10 - Congressman Joe Courtney today condemned the Iraqi Parliament and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for their failure to capitalize on the troop surge, which was intended to provide the time and space necessary to begin a national reconciliation.

"President Bush and the Iraqi government must begin answering the tough questions posed by the United States Congress, which is how long must the American public contend with a government incapable and unable to reconcile its sectarian differences?" demanded Courtney. "Young Americans are dying in the deserts and cities of Iraq while benchmarks for progress are essentially being ignored."

Congressman Courtney, responding to a week's worth of hearings and testimony before the House Armed Services Committee of which he is a member, stated that the Bush Administration must change its passive, hand off approach to the Iraq political leadership."

Last week the independent Government Accountability Office provided a sobering assessment of Iraq's progress towards meeting 18 benchmarks for progress established by the White House and Congress.

The GAO study found that only three benchmarks were met, while an astounding 15 were not achieved.

On Monday, September 10, the House Armed Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint-hearing to receive testimony from General David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. Petreaus reported that by mid-2008 conditions in Iraq may be such that a drawdown of U.S. troops to pre-surge levels may be appropriate, meanwhile Crocker confirmed the GAO's report card on Iraq's failure to achieve political progress and predicted none over the next six months. The contradicting outlook from the two officials was worrisome to Congressman Courtney.

"What we have to do is exercise some tough love and talk about taking the training wheels off of this government," said Courtney. "Nouri al-Maliki has had the benefit of the world's greatest war fighting machine for over two years as prime minister and all we have seen from him and his circle of allies is a self-centered attitude about holding onto power."

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