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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
NELSON: REFOCUS ON IRAQ PROGRESS

The United States must refocus on examining the progress of the Iraqi government on established benchmarks to determine the future of U.S. involvement there, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson said today.

In a speech delivered on the Senate Floor this morning, Nelson called on Congress and the Administration to “bring the focus of the debate about Iraq back to Iraq.” Nelson pushed for and played a critical role in establishing the eighteen benchmarks for progress the Administration is using to measure Iraqi political, economic and military progress. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Nelson negotiated the inclusion of the benchmarks in the most recent supplemental funding bill for the war.

Nelson is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has traveled to Iraq four times to meet with U.S. troops and Iraqi political leaders, including twice this year. Nelson said during his visits to Iraq he delivered strong messages to Iraq’s leaders that the “cycle of dependence” cannot continue indefinitely.  Nelson does not support establishing a date certain for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and has instead offered a plan to transition the mission of our troops from battling sectarian violence to pursuing terrorists, protecting American assets and maintaining Iraq’s border integrity.

“At this critical juncture of U.S. policy toward Iraq, the Iraq policy toward the U.S. seems disjointed, disconnected and disassociated,” Nelson said in his remarks. “The level of progress on the benchmarks is debatable—what is undeniable is the fact that progress is needed on some of the most urgent issues to bring peace and stability in Iraq.” 

Nelson continued, “The Iraqi government has failed to enact a de-Ba’athification law, the Parliament has failed to enact a law on equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources and revenues, and they’ve failed to provide the three trained and ready brigades to support Baghdad operations, and the disarmament of the militias has not occurred. These are fundamental failures by a government that continues to expect the United States to invest in Iraq with our soldiers and our dollars and these failures are unacceptable. We can’t continue on this path and cycle of Iraqi dependence on the United States.”

Nelson’s entire floor speech as delivered is included below.

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Mr. President, I rise today to try to bring the focus of the debate about Iraq back to Iraq – specifically the Iraqi government’s continuing failures to meet benchmarks for progress on political, military and security matters.

For the past several weeks, the news out of Iraq has been consumed by coverage of the Blackwater security transgressions. To be sure, the allegations against Blackwater are serious and need to be addressed. Oversight needs to be tightened. Action should be taken to ensure that security needs are being met and force is used only when necessary.

By no means do I believe we should do anything but hold Blackwater and its government overseers responsible for their actions. But what is happening here is the Iraqi government has successfully shifted the focus of the debate from their failures in meeting benchmarks for progress to the Blackwater security matter. We need to refocus.

Everyone here remembers, and the American people remember this past spring during debate of the supplemental, the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007, Congress codified into law 18 benchmarks that were identified by the Iraqi government and the Bush Administration.  

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee I pushed to include benchmarks in this bill. Since returning from Iraq having spent Thanksgiving Day there with the troops in 2004, my second visit to our troops in Iraq, I began to call for the Iraqi government and U.S. military leaders to establish a method of measuring progress on the stated goals of standing up the military and security forces and establishing a functioning government.

During my third visit to our troops in Iraq in April of this year, I delivered a strong message to Iraqi leaders that they needed to show progress on an oil agreement, quelling sectarian violence and building a functioning government very quickly or the U.S. would continue lose patience with the war.

This supplemental presented an opportunity to send that message and codify it into law. 

It was the hope of the Senate to provide measurable benchmarks that could provide an outline on progress in Iraq.   As part of the benchmarks requirement, Congress asked the White House to provide an assessment in July and September. Congress also directed the GAO to provide its own assessment on the Iraqi benchmarks.

In July, Congress received an assessment from the White House on the status of the 18 benchmarks. At that time, the White House indicated that satisfactory progress on 8 of the benchmarks had been made.   On the remaining ten benchmarks, the White House indicated that the Iraqi government had failed to make satisfactory progress.

In September, the GAO review indicated that three benchmarks had been met, four had been partially met and eleven had not been met at all. 

In September, the White House provided its final assessment of the 18 benchmarks. On the benchmarks, satisfactory progress had been made on 10 (two more than in July) and that eight benchmarks still received an unsatisfactory rating (two less than July).  

Everyone here remembers that this is an important issue because of the importance of making positive gains by the Iraqi government.

I visited Iraq for a fourth time in September – just after General David Patraeus testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee but before the benchmark reports were issued. Little had changed – Iraq’s political leaders were still entrenched, there was very little hope for progress on the benchmarks and I delivered the message that time was running out on the “blank check” policy the Administration seems to have implemented in Iraq.

At this critical juncture of U.S. policy toward Iraq, the Iraq policy toward the U.S. seems disjointed, disconnected and disassociated.

The level of progress on the benchmarks is debatable—what is undeniable is the fact that progress is needed on some of the most urgent issues to bring peace and stability in Iraq. 

The Iraqi government has failed to enact a de-Ba’athification law, the Parliament has failed to enact a law on equitable distribution of hydrocarbon resources and revenues, and they’ve failed to provide the three trained and ready brigades to support Baghdad operations, and the disarmament of the militias has not occurred.  

These are fundamental failures by a government that continues to expect the United States to invest in Iraq with our soldiers and our dollars and these failures are unacceptable. We can’t continue on this path and cycle of Iraqi dependence on the United States.

As we prepare to deal with another supplemental – bringing the total off-budget additional war spending this year to just under 200 billion dollars – making total off-budget spending on the war in Iraq nearly $500 billion – off budget spending in Iraq to nearly half a trillion dollars - we need to refocus on what is happening in Iraq. We need to reexamine these benchmarks. Those who called for another six months to allow more progress got what they wanted. The question is when will we get what we want? When will Iraq step up and take over? When will we be able to bring most of our troops home? When will the cycle of dependence end?

The answers to these questions lie in the benchmarks we established. Progress on the benchmarks can give us a timeframe for the future. Lack of progress on the benchmarks could extend our commitment indefinitely if we allow it to continue.

Mr. President, We need to refocus on the Iraqi government’s progress on the benchmarks, and there lack of it. If they had made more rapid progress we wouldn’t need private security outfits protecting American assets and personnel. If they continue to fail to make progress and meet the benchmarks, we will need to fundamentally reassess what our future role might be in Iraq. We can’t sustain this pace forever. Our soldiers deserve better. Our taxpayers deserve better. And the Iraqi people deserve better from their own government than the failed leadership they have shown to date.

Thank you Mr. President. I yield the floor.

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