State Legislators Oppose President Bush's Failed War Strategy

    WASHINGTON, April 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Senate Democrats and
 state legislators from across the country today discussed their opposition
 to President Bush's escalation of the war in Iraq.
     Resolutions and letters calling for a change of course in Iraq have
 been introduced in 29 states and passed in more than a dozen. These state
 governing bodies join the majority of Americans, bipartisan majorities in
 both houses of Congress, military experts and the Iraq Study Group in
 calling for a change of course.
     Senators Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy and Sherrod Brown joined Hannah
 Pingree, Majority Leader of the Maine House of Representatives; Steve
 Doherty, former Minority Leader of the Montana State Senate and co-chair of
 the Progressive States Network; and Kansas State Senator Donald Betts.
     "As we work to get our troops in the field the funding they need, the
 state legislators standing with us today have an up-close view of how this
 war affects communities across our country," Reid said. "They know that the
 President's policies have failed and want us to work together to fully
 provide for our troops, hold the Iraqi government accountable, and find a
 responsible end to the conflict."
     Said Kennedy: "The American people know that it is time for a new plan
 in Iraq. That is why 29 states have introduced resolutions against the
 escalation of our forces in Iraq. This President couldn't be more wrong on
 Iraq. He was wrong to get us into this war, wrong to conduct it so poorly,
 wrong to ignore the views of the American people and wrong to accuse those
 of us who are working to change course as undermining our troops. Now the
 President is wrong to veto the supplemental. Doing so would delay funding
 for our troops and keeps them in a bloody civil war with no exit strategy
 in sight."
     "The war in Iraq has cost 142 Ohioans their lives and wounded another
 thousand," Brown said. "The president should stop threatening to veto
 legislation and work with Congress to bring our troops home."
     Said Doherty: "Nationwide, Senators, state legislators, and citizens
 agree: This tragic war has dragged on for too long. It is a drain on this
 country. It is time to put forward a plan to bring the war to an end."
     "Our current open-ended commitment in Iraq is compromising critical
 domestic programs, from healthcare to development to education," Pingree
 said. "President Bush's failed Iraq policy has left our country worse off.
 Communities all over my state and around the country want America to change
 course and bring an end to this war."
     Beyond the Beltway: Americans Reject Bush's Iraq Policies
     Today, as the President is trying to make the case for his flawed Iraq
 policies in Ohio, state legislators are standing with Democrats to say that
 Americans outside of Washington have had enough of the President's "stay
 the course" strategy. Below is a look at what the war looks like in
 Montana, Kansas, and Maine. President Bush should listen to the voices
 speaking from
     beyond the beltway and sign the bill Congress is sending him that
 provides the troops with the funding they need and transitions the mission
 in Iraq.
                                    Montana
 
     Number of Active Duty Service-Members in Iraq: 1,092
     Number of Reserve Forces in Iraq: 170
     Number of Service-Members Killed in Iraq: 18
 
     Number of Service-Members Wounded in Iraq:  185
     Cost of War to the People of Montana: $698 Million
     (Source: CTS Deployment File, 1/31/07; Department of Defense Personnel
 Statistics; nationalpriorities.org)
     Montana soldiers are short-changed when going to Iraq. "If Zeimer's
 combat career was brief, so was his training. He enlisted last June at age
 17, three weeks after graduating from Dawson County High School in eastern
 Montana. After finishing nine weeks of basic training and additional
 preparation in infantry tactics in Oklahoma, he arrived at Fort Stewart,
 Ga., in early December. But Zeimer had missed the intense four-week
 pre-Iraq training -- a taste of what troops will face in combat -- that his
 1st Brigade comrades got at their home post in October. Instead, Zeimer and
 about 140 other members of the 4,000-strong brigade got a cut-rate, 10-day
 course on weapon use, first aid and Iraqi culture. That's the same length
 as the course that teaches soldiers assigned to generals' household staffs
 the finer points of table service." (Time, 4/16/07)
     Rural Montana is feeling the pinch. "On a per capita basis, states with
 mostly rural populations have suffered the highest casualties in Iraq.
 Vermont, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Delaware,
 Montana, Louisiana and Oregon top the list, the AP found. There's a 'basic
 unfairness' about the number of troops dying in Iraq who are from rural
 areas, said William O'Hare, senior visiting fellow at the University of New
 Hampshire's Carsey Institute, which examines rural issues." (AP, 2/20/07)
     Young lives have been cut tragically short by the war. "Kyle G.
 Bohrnsen loved to go bow hunting for elk and snowmobiling in his home state
 of Montana. 'He was a very athletic, outgoing individual,' said Lt. John
 Bleile, an Army casualty assistance officer at Bohrnsen's home Thursday.
 Bohrnsen, 22, of Philipsburg, Mont., died Tuesday of wounds he suffered
 when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Baghdad." (Rocky
 Mountain News, 4/13/07)
     Soldiers are returning to Montana with deep scars - some only on the
 inside. "A former Army medic and Townsend native, who asked that his name
 be withheld, just happens to be one of those people. His nightmares,
 thoughts and memories of war - the things he did and saw in Iraq - have
 become his unwelcome companion. He wants to escape and suicide, the
 25-year-old confessed last week, has emerged as one of his options ...
 'You're just scared for your life,' said the former medic, thinking back to
 his tour in Iraq. 'People were getting shot all around me. I don't know how
 the hell I made it through that.'" (AP, 4/16/07)
                                     Kansas
 
     Number of Active Duty Service-Members in Iraq: 1,322
     Number of Reserve Forces in Iraq: 916
     Number of Service-Members Killed in Iraq: 34
 
     Number of Service-Members Wounded in Iraq: 312
     Cost of War to the People of Kansas: $3.6 Billion
     (Source: CTS Deployment File, 1/31/07; Department of Defense Personnel
 Statistics; nationalpriorities.org)
     As Iraq grows more dangerous, Kansas service men and women are paying
 the price. "From October 2006 through last month, 532 American service
 members were killed, the most during any six-month period of the war. March
 also marked the first time that the U.S. military suffered four straight
 months of 80 or more fatalities. April, with 58 service members killed
 through Monday, is on pace to be one of the deadliest months of the
 conflict for American forces. The last six months saw eight Missouri
 fatalities and seven from Kansas. Over the previous six months, 10
 Missourians were killed in Iraq; four Kansans died." (Kansas City Star,
 4/17/07)
     Soldiers in Kansas are facing a longer time away from home. "More than
 two dozen units based at Fort Riley are likely to be impacted by the Army's
 decision to extend tours from 12 to 15 months in Iraq and Afghanistan. A
 Fort Riley news release says 17 units from the northeast Kansas post now
 deployed will be affected. Eight units on orders to deploy later this year
 are also expected to be a part of the extension." (AP, 4/12/07)
     The Kansas National Guard Commander is worried about strain on his
 troops. "Equipment for the Kansas National Guard is getting worn out
 according to the Guard Commander. Major General Tod Bunting says the
 equipment is not the only thing getting worn out - so are the troops.
 Bunting says the Guard's equipment is not being replaced quickly enough and
 that about 800 soldiers will stay in Iraq for now...some of them in their
 fourth tour." (AP, 4/10/07)
     Lack of equipment hurts National Guard's readiness back home in Kansas.
 "Currently, about 16 percent of the Kansas National Guard's equipment,
 valued at over $117 million, will not return to Kansas. With the potential
 for the amount of equipment left overseas to double, [Governor Kathleen]
 Sebelius is concerned about the impact this will have on the Guard's
 primary mission back home." (Kansas City InfoZine, 2/13/07)
     Topeka Capital-Journal says: "We are headed in the wrong direction."
 The president wants more troops in Iraq. A growing number of Americans are
 becoming more disenchanted with the war. Democrats have recaptured
 majorities in the House and Senate. Politicians furiously debate our
 future. And when the shouting is over, the U.S. military takes the hit.
 That is wrong. But it is happening. It happened again last week. Combat
 tours for Army soldiers were extended from 12 months to 15 months ... We
 are headed the wrong direction." (Topeka Capital-Journal, 4/18/07)
                                     Maine
 
     Number of Active Duty Service-Members in Iraq:  732
     Number of Reserve Forces in Iraq: 466
     Number of Service-Members Killed in Iraq: 19
 
     Number of Service-Members Wounded in Iraq:  168
     Cost of War to the People of Maine: $1.2 Billion
     (Source: CTS Deployment File, 1/31/07; Department of Defense Personnel
 Statistics; nationalpriorities.org)
     Maine's service men and women are finding their jobs incredibly
 difficult. "'Convoy security is the second-most-dangerous job in Iraq
 (after foot patrol),' said Churchill, who looks as though he still could be
 in high school. What's worse, it's a danger these soldiers cannot see.
 Anywhere along the hundreds of miles of Iraqi highway they travel each day
 and night, improvised explosive devices -- roadside bombs that grow more
 sophisticated with each passing month -- could go off at any time. 'The
 worst part of all is you're just heading down the road, waiting for it to
 happen,' Churchill said over the low roar of his idling gun truck. 'They're
 getting good at hiding these things.'" (Portland Press Herald, 4/18/07)
     Maine's service men and women hope they can just get home. "Gates
 continued, 'All you can do is say, 'Hey, they've got all that training
 they've gone through.' As a leader, that's my job -- to have as many tools
 as possible in their tool box so they can have the best chances of survival
 on this mission.' A short distance away, truck commander Harrington -- the
 man with the marksman in his turret and the driver who can plow through
 anything - - prepared for another night's work along the most dangerous
 truck route anywhere on Earth. What goes through his mind at times like
 this? 'We have, like, three months left to go,' Harrington replied. 'We're
 like, OK, let's keep our heads down and low-pro (low profile) for the rest
 of this duration and be safe.'" (Portland Press Herald, 4/18/07)
     Combat medics from Maine try to put the horror behind them. "Verreault,
 who would lean over the soldier for 20 long minutes, pumping six units of
 blood and 2 liters of saline solution into his veins as the rest of the
 trauma team prepared the patient for surgery, shook his head. 'I treat it
 like a really long, bad run - like a marathon,' Verreault said. 'It hurts,
 but you disassociate the pain and the discomfort and just get on with
 putting one foot in front of another.' Running toward the horror - these
 days in Iraq, it's a way of life at a combat support hospital." (Portland
 Press Herald, 4/13/07)
     Parents look to celebrate the lives of Maine's fallen soldiers.
 "Several hundred gathered at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in
 Portland to attend the funeral Mass for Swiger, a 24-year-old member of the
 Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Swiger, serving his third tour in Iraq, died
 on March 25 when a suicide bomber attacked his convoy in Diyala province
 ... 'It is going to take a little while for the whole community to heal,'
 Walter Swiger said. 'Today brings a closure, somewhat, to the past 10 days.
 We have had the chance to celebrate Jason's life.'" (Portland Press Herald,
 4/5/07)
 
 

SOURCE Office of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid