What the Iowa Delegation thinks of the Iraq Study Group Report

The Des Moines Register has statements from the Iowa Representitives and Senators about the Iraq Study Group report released yesterday. I find it interesting, but not surprising, that Steve King is playing the liberal media card. I am not sure what Boswell is thinking, the ISG report fails to plan how to bring troops home. I most agree with Dave Loebsack's statement that the report is a start, but more could be done. Here's what members of the Iowa congressional delegation had to say Wednesday about the report:

Sen. Charles Grassley, Republican: "The Iraq Study Group report is yet another source of information on what to do about Iraq. Over the last few weeks, we've seen the president and the Defense Department already put in motion an attitude that there needs to be a change of direction."

Sen. Tom Harkin, Democrat: "It is my sincere hope that this is the end of failed stay-the-course rhetoric and the beginning of a real solution to bringing our troops home ... The findings are an indictment of the president's failed policies in the Middle East ... The president owes it to the brave members of the military to find a way out of the mess he's made."

Rep. Leonard Boswell, Democrat: "A plan (to bring troops home) is long overdue. In light of the sectarian violence and the tremendous increase in casualties, we need to engage leaders in the region and begin the redeployment of troops from the area."

Rep. Steve King, Republican: "The commanders in the field know that the most treacherous terrain in their battle is American public opinion. Every day the mainstream media seeks to shift American public opinion against this war, and since the leaks of their apparent sympathizers within the Iraq Study Group were published last week, they have seized upon the findings of this unelected, unaccountable and autonomous committee to usher in a full-scale retreat from Iraq and from the front lines of the war on terror."

Rep.-elect Dave Loebsack, Democrat: "It's a good start for the conversation. It doesn't go far enough ... I remain adamant about beginning immediately to disengage. I hope we can all work together to take up a real solution to this."

**Update**
Here is what Bruce Braley thought of the Iraq Study Group report. From the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier...

Rep.-elect Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, praised the study's conclusion that conditions in Iraq are "grave and deteriorating."

He also praised the recommendation that the administration engage Iran and Syria in talks to seek a solution.

The report, which was released Wednesday but leaked in parts in recent days, recommended that Iraq should take greater responsibility for its own security and said U.S. combat troops could be out of the country by early 2008.
This spring, Braley also suggested Congress might use its power of the purse to force the administration to change policy. Although he didn't repeat that threat Wednesday, he expressed clear doubts the president was willing to change.

"The president has consistently refused to accept the possibility that the troops could be redeployed during his presidency," he said.