USA: SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY SAYS U.S SHOULD MAKE CLEAR FIRM EXIT STRATEGY FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ AFTER IRAQI ELECTIONS HAVE CLEAR EXIT STRAT

Record ID: 208483

  • Title: USA: SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY SAYS U.S SHOULD MAKE CLEAR FIRM EXIT STRATEGY FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ AFTER IRAQI ELECTIONS HAVE CLEAR EXIT STRAT
  • Date: 27th January 2005
  • Summary: (W5) WASHINGTON, D.C. UNITED STATES (JANUARY 27, 2005) (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY WALKING TO PODIUM 0.10 2. CLOSE OF LOGO OF SAIS ORGANIZATION 0.14 3. WIDE OF PEOPLE LISTENING TO KENNEDY SPEECH 0.21 4. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENATOR EDWARD KENNEDY (DEMOCRAT - MASSACHUSETTS ), SAYING: "We all hope for the best from Sunday's elections. the Iraqi's have a right to determine their own future. But Sunday's election is not a cure for the violence and instability. Unless the Sunnis and all the other communities in Iraq, believe they have a stake in the outcome and a genuine role in the drafting of the Iraqi constitution the election could lead to greater alienation, greater escalation and greater death for us and the Iraqis." 0.54 5. WIDE OF AUDIENCE FROM REAR OF ROOM 0.59 6. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) KENNEDY, SAYING: "For democracy to take root, Iraqis need to see that America has a clear exit strategy. Iraqis do not believe that America intends no long term military presence in their country. Our reluctance to make that clear has fuelled suspicions among Iraqis that our motives are not pure; that we want their oil and that we will never leave. As long as our presence seems ongoing, America's commitment to their democracy sounds unconvincing." 1.37 7. CLOSE OF WOMAN LISTENING TO KENNEDY 1.43 8. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) KENNEDY, SAYING: "Error is no excuse for perpetuation. Mindless determination does not make a better outcome likely. Setting a firm strategy for withdrawal may not guarantee success, but not doing so will almost certainly guarantee failure." 2.04 9. SMV PEOPLE IN AUDIENCE 2.12 10. WIDE OF PEOPLE WATCHING KENNEDY ON LARGE SCREEN 2.20 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 11th February 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVADNYS7ST3G7UKN2OK1YXRXFDL4
  • Story Text: A leading U.S. lawmaker calls on Bush to lay out a
    clear military exit strategy following Iraq's Sunday
    elections.




    The United States should lay out a plan to start
    withdrawing troops just after Sunday's elections, Senator.

    Edward Kennedy said on Thursday (January 27). He said the
    plan should include beginning military and politic
    withdrawal from Iraq as early as next year.

    Kennedy said that at least 12,000 U.S. troops should
    leave at once. "Error is no excuse for perpetuation," he
    told reporters in press conference at Johns Hopkins
    University. "Mindless determination does not make a better
    outcome likely. Setting a firm strategy for withdrawal may
    not guarantee success, but not doing so will almost
    certainly guarantee failure."
    The democrat lawmaker from Massachusetts, who opposed
    the U.S. invasion of Iraq, became the first senator to
    publicly call for Bush to start withdrawing troops. His
    announcement came a day after the Pentagon warned lawmakers
    that strikes by insurgents may increase after Sunday's
    elections. Besides ending its military presence, Kennedy
    also said the United States must stop making political
    decisions in Iraq and turn over full authority to the
    United Nations to help Baghdad set up a new government.

    He said an international meeting led by the United Nations
    and Iraq should be convened immediately in Iraq or
    elsewhere in the Middle East to start that process.

    In the Republican-led House of Representatives, 24
    Democrats this week introduced a resolution calling on Bush
    to begin an immediate pullout. The administration has refused to
    offer
    a timetable for pulling troops, and Bush
    on Wednesday said the United States would remain until the
    new government can defend itself. Democrats like Kennedy
    have been the strongest critics of the war but many
    Republicans are also concerned, in part because Iraq is
    costing more than $1 billion a week and has put a great
    strain on America's military and its budget.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register