Edwards Statement On Congressional Testimony By General Petraeus And Ambassador Crocker

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – In response to testimony by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker before Congress today, Senator John Edwards released the following statement:

"We needed answers today from the administration, and we only got more of the same doublespeak - that may pass for straight talk inside the Beltway, but the American people know better. We heard today the surge is working, when several independent reports have found that it's not. We heard about statistics from particular areas, like Anbar, that don't fairly represent the entire country. We heard that the administration plans to take credit for ending the surge by next spring, when it's well-known inside the military that our troops would have to come home anyway in order not to extend their tours beyond 15 months. We heard that we'd still have 130,000 troops in place next summer, policing a civil war, when this is where we started in the first place. Worst of all, we heard that there are no concrete steps toward the comprehensive political solution that will end the violence once and for all and put Iraq on the path to stability.

"This is not good enough, and Congress must act. The American people voted last November for change, but we still have the status quo. For over a year, I have been saying we need to immediately withdraw 40-50,000 troops to jump-start a political solution, launch a diplomatic surge including all local and regional parties, including Iran and Syria, and withdraw all our combat troops within a year and bring our brave troops home to the heroes' welcome they deserve.

"It's time for Congress to act. They must stand firm and tell President Bush with one voice: No timetable, no funding. No excuses."