Sen. Tom Harkin issued the following statement ahead of the 5th anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Harkin has been a leader on efforts in Congress to redeploy our troops and bring them home:

“On this fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, we have reached an extraordinary juncture. The so-called surge has failed to achieve its stated objective, which was to facilitate reconciliation within the Iraqi government. While our brave American troops have performed brilliantly, the Iraqi government, time and again, has failed to take the kinds of actions that will foster national unity. Meanwhile, we have received a series of objective, authoritative reports documenting that the Iraqi government, Army, and police are dysfunctional and riddled with sectarianism and corruption.”

“In other words, the President’s stay the course policy in Iraq has brought us more of the same. The same violence. The same dysfunction. The same failure.”

“Enough is enough. The only true way forward in Iraq is to redeploy U.S. forces. Only then will Iraqi leaders have the incentive to resolve their differences and take responsibility for their own future. And by redeploying our troops to strategic locations elsewhere in the Middle East, we will be able to pursue a more effective strategy in that critical part of the world.”