(My name is Richard Carter and I am a Democratic candidate for United States Congress in Nebraska's Second Congressional District.)
Since I announced my candidacy for United States Congress in February I've been listening. Listening to the issues that matter to the residents of Nebraska's Second Congressional District. I've spoken at Union Halls, Resturants, Community Centers, and on people's porches hoping to gain an insight into what they believe must change in America.
No issue has come up more than the War in Iraq; an issue, as a Veteran of the United States Air Force who flew combat reconaissance missions over Iraq and Afghanistan, I am uniquely equipped to lead on.
The primary is only 23 days away! Help us get our change message to the voters with a donation!
While my opponents have only barely mentioned the war in their campaigns, I have made it a central theme of our campaign. Neither has produced their plan to end the seemly endless War in Iraq.
I have.
The war in Iraq has lessened the overall readiness of our military, and distracted us from Afghanistan and the real War on Terror. The war in Iraq has made us less prepared to respond to other potential threats around the world. It has sent our economy spiraling toward recession, shackled us with an enormous debt, and hijacked our energy policy.
Our brave men and women in Iraq have accomplished every mission they were given. They were told to depose a dictator, and in a matter of weeks, they removed Saddam Hussein from power. They were told to ensure we were safe from weapons of mass destruction, and they did that as well. They helped make it safe for the Iraqi people to write a constitution and elect their own democratic government, and they have helped to train the Iraqi military to protect their new institutions. There are no more appropriate missions to assign our military in this war. It is time to bring the troops home.
There are six steps we must take to get our troops out Iraq:
- We should bring our troops home as quickly and as safely as possible. We should set a plan for steady removal of troops, and not deviate from it. My recommendation would be no less than one brigade a month. This rate would allow for the troops that are leaving to do so in an orderly fashion, and would not place undue strain on the troops remaining.
- Continue to train the Iraqi military. Encourage the Iraqi government to build its own defenses so that it is not as vulnerable to outside influence or internal strife. While our troops need to get out of this civil war, we still need to work closely with the Iraqi government as an ally, help them to train their own military, and provide them advice and consultation whenever possible.
- If the Iraqi government fails to provide for adequate security, we should encourage the local sheiks to provide that security as we redeploy. If needed, we could work directly with those individuals and provide them with the training and necessary equipment. In fact, some of the most recent progress has come from this approach.
- The Iraqi government needs to do whatever it takes to secure their oil pipelines and start pumping! This will give them the money needed to pay for the increases in security forces and the overall rebuilding of their country, while lowering our gas prices by increasing supply. If they need more supplies to protect this key resource, we can provide them at a fair price.
- Keep a rapid response force in the region. We have personnel in Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, and other nations in the region. If, for some unseen reason, we need to send a temporary small force back into Iraq, we will be prepared to do so.
- Most importantly, do not allow our withdrawal to be subject to the Iraqi government meeting its own goals. We must show the Iraqis that we will not allow them to set our military policy. At this point, there are no more military solutions in Iraq. Ultimately, the Iraqi government needs to reap the rewards and consequences of its successes and failures on its own.
To really end the war in Iraq, and reverse the damage it has done, we must do more than get our troops out. We must also emphasize diplomacy, address humanitarian concerns, restore our Constitution, rebuild our military, return independence to our media, and create a new energy policy which is centered on the United States, and not OPEC.
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We are the underdog campaign in this race. Our Democratic opponent ran, unsuccessfully, in 2006 and has the insitutional support behind him while the general election opponent is a five term incumbent Republican with over $700,000 in the bank.
As a Veteran of the U.S. Air Force, a trained Economist, and as a teacher I am uniquely qualified to deal with three most important issues of our day.
23 Days is all we have left to prove ourselves. Our 100% volunteer campaign is working nearly 14 hours a day, Monday through Friday to help our campaign. Not to mention the dozens of volunteers who have marched with us in parades, phone banked, held signs at events, and canvassed with us through the coldest and rainest days.
But we need your help. Help us get our message of change, real life experience, and leadership out to the people of Nebraska's Second Congressional District.
Thank you for your time and support.
P.S. Look out for our weekly live blogs here on Daily Kos every Sunday at 3 P.M. central. (: