| WASHINGTON
- May 1 - Tonight, aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, the President will address the nation and declare an end to the combat in Iraq. While the President will declare a military victory, it is clear that the war in Iraq is a diplomatic and foreign policy failure, stated Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH) today.
Kucinich, Ranking Member of the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, issued the following statement today:
"Regardless of the outcome, the war in Iraq was wrong. While the United States has won a military victory in Iraq, the Administration never justified the war, rendering it a diplomatic and foreign policy failure.
"The Administration led America into a war based on false pretenses. Even today, as the President declares an end to combat, there is no credible evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The main purpose of this war according to the Administration was to eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. These weapons, they said, posed an immediate and imminent threat to our nation and our allies, and could not be eliminated through international weapons inspectors. But now, the main justification for this Administration to go to war cannot be found.
"The Administration, with its policy in Iraq, has isolated the United States from the international community and threatens to make our country less safe not more safe.
"Bringing the troops home, and bring in the international community to assist with humanitarian reconstruction and security, must happen immediately. Rhetoric alone will not convince the world that United States is not occupying Iraq, especially since no weapons of mass destruction have been found and the U.S. has prioritized the rebuilding oil infrastructures instead of providing humanitarian assistance."
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