Statement of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold On the Need for Real Change in Our Iraq Policy October 24, 2006 Ambassador Khalilzad’s comments this morning suggest that the President is now departing from his “stay the course” strategy and is developing a series of political and security timetables and benchmarks in Iraq. But the political repackaging we’ve heard over the last few days is far from sufficient. As I have argued for over a year, a timetable for the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq will help pressure the Iraqis to get their political house in order and will help the U.S. military refocus on defeating global terrorist networks. The President is one of the few people left who believes our current approach in Iraq is working. During one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in Iraq, even many Republicans have begun advocating a change of course in Iraq. Americans and Iraqis deserve a new course that starts with the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq.

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