FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 16, 2007

Isakson Opposes Resolution Condemning President’s Strategy to Send Additional Troops to Iraq
Says Resolution Sends Message of Doubt to Troops and Message of Hope to Enemy

WASHINGTON – Declaring we cannot send a mixed-message to our enemies or to our troops in harms way, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) today criticized a Senate resolution opposing President Bush’s plan to send more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq as part of a strategy to help the Iraqi government assume more control and more accountability for securing the country.

“It is not right to send a mixed message in a nonbinding resolution while our men and women are deploying in defense of this country and at the order of the President of the United States of America and our commander in chief. The result of that is to send a message of doubt to them and a message of hope to our enemy,” Isakson said in the Senate floor. “We saw on 9/11 the manifest horror that tyranny and terror can bring, and we'll see it again if we lose our resolve to pursue it wherever it takes us.”

In the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Jan. 24, Isakson voted against a nonbinding resolution that condemned the President’s strategy of sending additional troops to Iraq. Isakson supports the President’s strategy as the best hope of giving the Iraqi government an opportunity to secure the country and achieve political reconciliation.

Isakson noted that during more than 20 hours of Foreign Relations hearings on Iraq over the past month, every witness – even those who opposed the President’s strategy – testified that withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would result in thousands of lives lost and an increase in the sectarian violence across the region.

“Earlier a speech that was given on the floor was primarily a recitation of the names of those that have died in uniform in Iraq from the United States of America,” Isakson said. “When we read the list of those who have lost their lives, we have to remember how long the list is of those who live today because our men and women in armed forces in wars past and in war today fight for security and peace and fight for us to live.”

The Senate is scheduled to vote on Saturday on a motion to end the debate and to proceed to an up-or-down vote on the resolution opposing the President’s strategy of sending additional troops to Iraq. Isakson will vote against ending debate, because the Senate leadership has not allowed debate on an alternative resolution that would pledge not to restrict funding for U.S. troops in combat.

Isakson said his “no” vote “will not be a desire to cut off debate. It will in fact be a desire to elevate the debate. I think every side that’s represented in this United States Senate floor ought to be a side that’s spoken.”

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