February 26, 2008
Congressional Candidate Tracey Brooks Calls for a Safe Withdrawl of Our Troops From Iraq
Tracey Brooks, Congressional candidate in the Capital
Region’s 21st District, today called for an end to the United State’s
involvement in Iraq’s civil war and a safe withdrawal of our troops following
reports of yet another suicide bombing and comments from Army chief of staff
Gen. George Casey calling for shorter combat tours for our strained forces.
“It is the responsibility of the U.S. government
to ensure that these soldiers return home quickly and safely,” said
Brooks. “Our brave men and women have
done all that their country has asked of them, and we owe it to our troops and
their families to bring them home safely and to a hero’s welcome.”
The U.S. Armed Forces deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan
constitutes the largest sustained ground combat mission undertaken by the United States
since the Vietnam War. As of January
2008, New York has lost 173 of its sons and daughters (out of 3,928 nationwide)
while 1,369 have returned to their families wounded (out of 28,838 nationwide) as
a result of the civil war in Iraq, a war with no clear end in sight.
The Iraq war is estimated to cost over $10 billion
dollars a month, while the U.S.
economy teeters on the verge of a recession with housing, financial, healthcare
and energy markets all in crisis. The
war has cost the taxpayers of the 21st Congressional District over $1.3
billion as of December 2007—money that could have been spent combating economic
issues here at home.
“We all know that it doesn't make sense to continue
spending billions of dollars abroad on a mission we were told was accomplished
several years ago,” said Tracey Brooks. “We need to readjust our priorities and invest that money right now solving
problems right here at home.”
As a lifelong resident of the Albany area and the
Capitol Regional Director for Senator Hillary Clinton for the last three years,
Brooks enters the race with working knowledge of the problems facing the region
and experience in finding solutions to them. Brooks has spent much of her time
since announcing her candidacy visiting farmers, seniors, veterans, small
business owners, manufacturing companies, technology learning centers and
families across all seven counties of the District talking about the issues
that really matter to people.
“I’m committed to successfully
ending the war in Iraq, taking
care of our returning soldiers, and restoring America’s position as the world’s
economic, diplomatic and military leader,” said Brooks. “And when elected to
Congress, I will fight in Washington
to do just that.”
To learn more about Tracey Brooks, please visit www.traceybrooks.com.
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