Even as President Bush prepares to propose a troop escalation in Iraq, Rep. Keith Ellison says the solution lies in an immediate withdrawal of military forces from the country and focusing instead on political and diplomatic efforts. | "So rather than do something small and ineffective, why not get about the business of what we're going to have to do eventually, which is to begin to end the occupation?" |
Ellison, a freshman Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress, made the comments in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. "We could describe it as a redeployment or withdrawal, but I think we have run the course in terms of our ability to resolve this conflict militarily," he said. "I think we need to have a political and economic and diplomatic engagement, and we need to encourage the forces that are in Iraq to begin to resolve the violence in Iraq."
Ellison argued that President Bush's expected plan to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq is "way too late, way too little" to make a difference. "So rather than do something small and ineffective, why not get about the business of what we're going to have to do eventually, which is to begin to end the occupation?" he asked. |