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It’s Time For American Troops To Come Home

by Mass. Dem. Sen. Edward Kennedy - 06/13/06 9:52 AM ET

I hope the President will deliver a clear message in Baghdad: now that a democratic government has been elected and the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq has been killed, it’s time for American troops to begin to come home.

We need to view disengagement as part of the solution in Iraq. Our overwhelming military presence and our open-ended military commitment have fueled the insurgency and made America a crutch for the Iraqi government.

If America really wants the new Iraqi government to succeed, we must begin to disengage from Iraq, and they from us. The Iraqi government must begin to make its own decisions, make necessary compromises to avoid full-scale civil war, and take responsibility for its own future.