WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. John Kerry today released the following statement in response to this morning’s announcement from President Bush to leave 140,000 troops in Iraq as Al Qaeda and Taliban forces strengthen in Afghanistan and Pakistan:

“It is clear from today’s speech that President Bush still doesn’t get it,” said Sen. Kerry. “Nearly seven years after 9/11, he stubbornly maintains that Iraq is the central front in the war against al Qaeda when our own intelligence tells us that the terrorists have been flocking to a reconstituted safe haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

“The President’s announcement that by the end of this year he will be sending just one single Marine battalion to Afghanistan is woefully insufficient given the deteriorating situation there, and far short of the three additional brigades that our commanders in Afghanistan have said they urgently need. It is shocking that a President who claims to heed the advice of his military leaders would ignore their pleas to send significant additional troops to the very region where the terrorists responsible for 9/11 still roam free to plan their next attack.

“The President’s ally in the senate John McCain is even more out of touch with reality about the threats America faces,” Kerry added. “John McCain has consistently shown the wrong judgment in downplaying the significance of Afghanistan so that he could pursue the war of choice in Iraq. He had his own “Mission Accomplished” moment when he stood on an aircraft carrier and declared “Next up, Baghdad!” It’s sadly predictable that McCain remains among the last diehards who still refuse to acknowledge that we need a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq even as the President is negotiating just that with the Iraqi government.”

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