Obama statement on additional Iraq deployments

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Chicago, IL Statement from Senator Barack Obama on new troop policy the Pentagon is considering:

Obama: Pentagon policy would put more men and women in civil war crossfire

The Pentagon is considering a plan to extend the tours of duty for up to 15,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq, a defense official said Also on Monday, officials said some 13,000 National Guard troops are receiving notice to prepare for possible deployment to Iraq, which would be the second tour for several thousand of them. [AP, 4/10/07]

Chicago, IL Statement from Senator Barack Obama on new troop policy the Pentagon is considering:

The news today that the Pentagon is considering extending the surge by extending the tour of 15,000 troops, and that the National Guard is about to call up another 13,000 soldiers before they were scheduled to deploy, is only going to put more men and women in the crossfire of a civil war.

Imagine how this news impacts a soldier in Iraq, waiting for those dangerous and long months to pass. Imagine being a spouse back home, praying every day that their husband or wife will return home safely. Now President Bush is telling these troops and their families they will have to wait longer and longer. This surge should never have happened because no amount of service members will end the war in Iraq because there is no military solution, only a political one.

I believe that the last, best hope to pressure the Sunni and Shiia to reach a political accommodation is to let the Iraqi government know that America will not be there forever. Thats why my plan begins a phased withdrawal from Iraq on May 1st, 2007, with the goal of removing all combat troops by March 31st, 2008. It is time to bring this war to a responsible end.

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For Immediate Release

April 10, 2007

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