Kris Schultz

I'm still following the Hawaii Senate primary, and I stumbled on another excellent reason to put the Akaka race at the top of your "MUST SUPPORT" list. Last Friday, Congressman Ed Case, who is challenging Senator Akaka in a primary this September, voted to support President Bush’s failed course in Iraq. Yet again we see Ed Case and his friends in the Republican Party rubberstamping the Bush Administration’s poor planning and mismanagement of the Iraq War.

Senator Akaka strongly support our troops, and believes, as I do, that we have the finest armed forces in the world and they are doing a great job.

Bush Republicans and their friend Ed Case (a.k.a. D-in-name-only) have failed to conduct oversight to make sure that our troops are properly equipped and have failed to demand accountability so that taxpayers’ dollars are not wasted on no-bid contracts for Halliburton.The Iraq War is straining our military and undermining the war on terrorism.Case, like Bush, wants to stay the course in Iraq, with an open-ended commitment and no end in sight.

Akaka wants to move us in a new direction – ensuring that 2006 is a year of significant transition with Iraqis assuming responsibility for their country and with the responsible redeployment of U.S. forces.

The best reasons to support Akaka over Case:

Ed Case rubberstamped the President’s mismanagement of Iraq – no oversight.

• The Bush Administration poorly planned the war -- rejecting the calls of military leaders for more troops, failing to provide adequate equipment for our troops, and wasting billions of taxpayers’ dollars on no-bid contracts for Bush cronies, such as Halliburton.
  
• A former commander of US Central Command, General Anthony Zinni said that “ten years worth of planning were thrown away; troop levels dismissed out of hand…these were not tactical mistakes, these were strategic mistakes, mistakes of policy made back here.” Our troops have suffered and no one has been held accountable.
• Soldiers and their families have been forced to purchase body armor – to ensure they have necessary protection when in Iraq. It took more than 18 months after the invasion of Iraq for all American soldiers to receive the body armor.
• All of the problems we see in Iraq today – the daily deadly attacks by insurgents, the rise of ethnic militias, the shortage of gas and electricity, the weakness of the economy – can be tied to the complete lack of planning by this Administration.
• Congress has a responsibility to ask questions and do oversight. On every significant issue related to Iraq -- Abu Ghraib, too few troops; soldiers having to literally put together scrap metal for ... their humvees; parents doing bake sales for Kevlar vests -- Congress has failed to ask the questions.

Republicans in Congress and their friend Ed Case rubberstamped Iraq reconstruction waste, fraud and abuse – no accountability.

• The United States has allocated $50 billion to private contractors for reconstruction and rebuilding efforts in Iraq – with $17 billion squandered on no-bid contracts for Halliburton.
• No bid contracts and overcharges have cost U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, projects remain incomplete, and billions of dollars in Iraqi oil revenue have simply disappeared.
  
• Nearly $9 billion of Iraqi and U.S. funds for reconstruction was mismanaged by the U.S. led Coalition Provisional Authority and are unaccounted for. [Report of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, January 2006]
• Republicans and their friend Case in Congress have refused to demand accountability regarding the money going to Iraq – repeatedly rejecting the creation of a special investigating committee to ensure that taxpayer funds are being spent properly.

The Iraq War is straining our military.

• The Bush Administration’s poor planning for the Iraq War has strained our troops, with many units on their second or even third tour in Iraq or Afghanistan. Some troops are on their fourth deployments since 2001Army and Marine Corps units have more than 40 percent of their equipment deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the cost of repair and replacing Army equipment alone will be $36 billion.
  
• Retention rates and recruiting are being affected and some recruiting standards are being loosened.

This prolonged engagement in Iraq has undermined the war on terrorism.

• Because resources and attention have been diverted to Iraq, the job is not finished in Afghanistan.
  
• The Taliban is resurgent, Osama bin Laden is still on the loose, and the Afghan government does not control the countryside.

Bush Republicans and their friend Ed Case want to stay the course -- leaving us with an open-ended commitment – with no end in sight.

• The Bush Administration has refused to offer any plan for Iraq that will bring our men and women home, and has failed to even provide the American people with the mileposts and benchmarks that would define success and allow us to begin bringing home our troops.
• This spring, the President Bush conceded that troops would remain in Iraq after 2008, and the Administration has recently added 2 more brigades in Iraq.
  
• Ed Case supports the Bush Administration in this failed policy 100%.