[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 4794]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S SPIN ON BRITISH TROOP WITHDRAWAL NOT HELPFUL FOR 
                               THE FUTURE

  (Mr. HARE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HARE. Mr. Speaker, last week British Prime Minister Tony Blair 
announced that he plans to withdraw 1,600 British troops this summer. 
The administration's response, this is good news, because it shows that 
some good things are happening in Iraq. Nice spin. But one has to 
wonder why our closest ally in this war is pulling out troops at the 
very same time this administration wants to send 21,500 additional U.S. 
soldiers into Iraq.
  The British say they are withdrawing their troops because the Shiite-
dominated southern region is relatively calm. That is, indeed, good 
news. But if the British really believed, as this President does, that 
expanding number of troops in Baghdad would lead to the same results 
there, wouldn't they choose to move these troops into Baghdad rather 
than pull them out completely?
  No matter how the Bush administration tries to spin it, the British 
withdrawal is not good news for the administration's troop escalation 
plan. Why should we be sending thousands more of our troops to Iraq 
when Britain and other coalition members are pulling out? It is time 
the administration stops spinning and instead answers these questions.

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