Senator Reed Urges the Bush Administration to Refocus on the Global War on Terror
Washington, DC Calling on the Bush Administration to refocus on the global war on terror, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today said it is imperative that the Bush Administration recognize that the war on terrorism is much larger than the war in Iraq. At a press conference in the U.S. Capitol with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Reed noted that the vast resources and attention devoted to Iraq has diverted our nations attention from the larger war on terror.Reed stated, "We are engaged in a global struggle, but we dont have a coherent global strategy. We are hugely engaged in Iraq, but that engagement has cost us around the globe."Reed stressed that while the Bush Administration has focused heavily on Iraq, the Taliban has regained strength in Afghanistan, and Iran and North Korea have stepped up their nuclear programs. "The president is fond of saying that Iraq is the central front in the war on terror. The reality is there is no central front. This is a worldwide, dispersed, disaggregated organization. In fact, it is less of an organization, more of a sympathetic band. And we have to have a strategy that's coherent with that," said Reed. "We have to have a strategy that recognizes that the Iranian threat is real. We hope that they will become engaged in serious negotiations."But the administration, for many, many months, refused I think to deal seriously with our European allies to engage in such negotiations. Today, we hope that that effort will be successful.""We have a long-term obligation to confront and fight and succeed in this war on terror, but we need a strategy that recognizes worldwide threats, that is appropriate to these threats, and that deals decisively to secure or protect the safety of the American public," concluded Reed.