Ben Chandler

No one was tougher on Ben Chandler in 2007 than yours truly (perhaps with the exception of Yellow Dog). But as I’ve said several times this year, the Ben Chandler of 2008 has been a pleasant surprise. And today, he surprises me once again by finally seeing the light on Iraq.

After making his first whirlwind trip through Iraq over the weekend, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said the United States should begin to withdraw troops now and force the Iraqi government to stand on its own.

”As long as we continue to fund this thing and as long as we continue to provide security, there is less incentive for the Iraqi government to do the things they need to do to control the country,“ Chandler told the Herald-Leader. ”I think we need to leave them with as stable a situation as we can but we need to lift off from the country as soon as possible.

”I think it’s time to start withdrawing,“ he added, although he acknowledged that any such shift in policy isn’t likely to occur until the next president takes office in January.

He also said he’s increasingly concerned with the mounting cost of U.S. occupation and reconstruction of Iraq, which works out to roughly $330 million per day.

”It’s a shocking amount of money and at a time when we’re concerned about our ability to compete in a global economy,“ he said.

Chandler, a member of the House appropriations committee’s subcommittee for State Department and foreign operations funding, traveled to Ramadi and Baghdad on Saturday with four members of Arkansas’ congressional delegation and Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop of New York.

In addition to meeting with troops and surveying the region, the group met with Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, who is commanding general of the multinational force in Iraq.

Chandler praised U.S. troops for being ”heroic“ in quelling sectarian violence that has flared up since U.S.-led forces invaded in 2003.

”It’s unbelievable what they have had to deal with — wearing all this equipment in the heat and in dangerous circumstances where you don’t know who is friend or foe,“ said Chandler, who was outfitted with a heavy flak jacket for protection in what he said was 120-degree heat during his trip.

Chandler said a surge of an additional 20,000 troops last year — which he spoke against on the House floor — clearly helped conditions.

”We’ve done a wonderful job really in bringing more security to the country,“ he said. ”You cannot dispute the fact that it is connected with putting more troops there.“

But he said U.S. efforts might have reached the ”point of diminishing returns.“

”We’ve given them breathing room to stabilize their situation, and I’m not sure for the money we’re spending that we can accomplish a great deal more than that,“ he said. ”Essentially we’re borrowing from the Chinese in order to pay for a war that, if you look at the final outcome, it’s really questionable whether we gain a thing from it.“

Big kudos to Ben.

I feel it is the responsibility of all grassroots activists and KY bloggers to criticize our own when we let us down, and praise our own when they stand up for us. To do otherwise is not only dishonest, it greatly hurts our own cause. (ahem!)

PS- I’m personally taking time out of my day to call Ben’s office and thank him for these words on Iraq and the way he’s conducted himself this year. I strongly encourage you to do the same.

D.C.- Phone: (202)-225-4706
Lex- Phone: (859) 219-1366
.