2007.06.28: June 28, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Iraq: Connecticut Post: Shays asks for new Iraq progress study
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Fiji:
Special Report: Former Congressman Chris Shays:
RPCV Congressman Chris Shays: Newest Stories:
2007.06.28: June 28, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Fiji: Politics: Congress: Iraq: Connecticut Post: Shays asks for new Iraq progress study
Shays asks for new Iraq progress study
The House last week voted 355-69 in favor of an amendment offered by Shays to provide $1 million to have the independent, bipartisan group review the situation in Iraq since it released its official report on Dec. 6, 2006. The entire Connecticut delegation supported it. Congress, however, is not expected to complete work on the bill until this fall and the money to get the study rolling is needed now. That's why Shays wants the White House to step up to the plate. "It is a risk," Shays said. "But if the administration believes in what they are doing [in Iraq] they should have every reason to believe that the Iraq Study Group will be nonpartisan." Shays said that he has spoken to the U.S. Institute of Peace, which organized the ISG, and to Lee Hamilton, a co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, about reviving the bipartisan panel. His impression was that they would not be interested in acting as a counter voice to Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, who is expected to report to Congress on the war's progress this September. The group would, however, be willing to review their recommendations and the overall progress in Iraq. Chris Shays of Connecticut served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji in the 1960's.
Shays asks for new Iraq progress study
Shays asks new Iraq progress study
PETER URBAN purban@ctpost.com
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2007 11:43:44 PM EDT
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration should reconvene the Iraq Study Group to offer an independent assessment this fall of progress on the war, according to Rep. Christopher Shays, R-4.
The House last week voted 355-69 in favor of an amendment offered by Shays to provide $1 million to have the independent, bipartisan group review the situation in Iraq since it released its official report on Dec. 6, 2006. The entire Connecticut delegation supported it.
Congress, however, is not expected to complete work on the bill until this fall and the money to get the study rolling is needed now.
That's why Shays wants the White House to step up to the plate.
"It is a risk," Shays said. "But if the administration believes in what they are doing [in Iraq] they should have every reason to believe that the Iraq Study Group will be nonpartisan."
Shays said that he has spoken to the U.S. Institute of Peace, which organized the ISG, and to Lee Hamilton, a co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, about reviving the bipartisan panel. His impression was that they would not be interested in acting as a counter voice to Gen. David Petraeus, the top military commander in Iraq, who is expected to report to Congress on the war's progress this September.
The group would, however, be willing to review their recommendations and the overall progress in Iraq.
Liberals and anti-war groups have hammered Shays in the last week over his call for a second ISG report.
"Chris Shays has done nothing but thump his chest, talking about his 17 trips to Iraq and how he knows more than anyone, including the Iraq Study Group," complained Jon Soltz, chairman of VoteVets.org., a group chaired by 2004 Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark.
"Chris Shays cannot continue to talk out of both sides of his mouth and expect to have any credibility left at all," said Americans Against Escalation in Iraq spokeswoman Moira Mack. "Chris Shays claims he values the Iraq Study Group, but when he had the opportunity, Shays didn't vote for the group's recommendation of a safe, responsible redeployment of American troops out of Iraq," Mack said. "It's hypocritical and disingenuous for Chris Shays to call for the reconvening of a group he has ignored."
Shays said that he is "ticked off" by the criticism.
"The blogs that think that I don't support the Iraq Study Group, well, that's just bull ," he said.
Shays said the panel's December report made three key recommendations that he fully supports:
? Shifting "policing work" from the U.S. military to Iraq security forces.
? Expanding diplomatic relations in the region.
? And, setting a deadline for Sunni, Shia and Kurdish leaders to reach a national reconciliation agreement.
Shays also noted that while the Iraq Study Group clearly rejected a substantial increase of American troops in Iraq, it did state that it could support "a short-term redeployment or surge of American combat forces to stabilize Baghdad, or to speed up the training and equipping mission, if the U.S. commander in Iraq determines that such steps would be effective."
Shays said he voted against several Democratic proposals to withdraw troops from Iraq because they set a timeline that did not consider whether Iraq would be capable of handling its own security.
"It would be immoral to have a deadline set before they are able to take over," Shays said.
Shays spoke Wednesday at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol with Reps. Frank Wolf, R-Va.; Dan Lipinski, D-Ill.; and Michael McCaul, R-Texas. All support reconstituting the Iraq Study Group.
Wolf, who proposed the first ISG, said that he hopes the panel can work quickly to issue a new report. Their effort, he said, would be valuable because it would provide an independent, bipartisan assessment that "will take the venom out of the current debate and give our country answers about how we can move forward."
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: June, 2007; RPCV Chris Shays (Fiji); Figures; Peace Corps Fiji; Directory of Fiji RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Fiji RPCVs; Politics; Congress; Iraq; Connecticut; Peace Corps Bibliography; Peace Corps Directory; Peace Corps History; Bulletin Board; Recent Peace Corps News
When this story was posted in July 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Dodd issues call for National Service Standing on the steps of the Nashua City Hall where JFK kicked off his campaign in 1960, Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd issued a call for National Service. "Like thousands of others, I heard President Kennedy's words and a short time later joined the Peace Corps." Dodd said his goal is to see 40 million people volunteering in some form or another by 2020. "We have an appetite for service. We like to be asked to roll up our sleeves and make a contribution," he said. "We haven't been asked in a long time." |
| Public diplomacy rests on sound public policy When President Kennedy spoke of "a long twilight struggle," and challenged the country to "ask not," he signaled that the Cold War was the challenge and framework defining US foreign policy. The current challenge is not a struggle against a totalitarian foe. It is not a battle against an enemy called "Islamofascism." From these false assumptions flow false choices, including the false choice between law enforcement and war. Instead, law enforcement and military force both must be essential instruments, along with diplomacy, including public diplomacy. But public diplomacy rests on policy, and to begin with, the policy must be sound. Read more. |
| Ambassador revokes clearance for PC Director A post made on PCOL from volunteers in Tanzania alleges that Ambassador Retzer has acted improperly in revoking the country clearance of Country Director Christine Djondo. A statement from Peace Corps' Press Office says that the Peace Corps strongly disagrees with the ambassador’s decision. On June 8 the White House announced that Retzer is being replaced as Ambassador. Latest: Senator Dodd has placed a hold on Mark Green's nomination to be Ambassador to Tanzania. |
| Peace Corps Funnies A PCV writing home? Our editor hard at work? Take a look at our Peace Corps Funnies and Peace Corps Cartoons and see why Peace Corps Volunteers say that sometimes a touch of levity can be one of the best ways of dealing with frustrations in the field. Read what RPCVs say about the lighter side of life in the Peace Corps and see why irreverent observations can often contain more than a grain of truth. We'll supply the photos. You supply the captions. |
| PCOL serves half million PCOL's readership for April exceeded 525,000 visitors - a 50% increase over last year. This year also saw the advent of a new web site: Peace Corps News that together with the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps serve 17,000 RPCVs, Staff, and Friends of the Peace Corps every day. Thanks for making PCOL your source of news for the Peace Corps community. Read more. |
| Suspect confesses in murder of PCV Search parties in the Philippines discovered the body of Peace Corps Volunteer Julia Campbell near Barangay Batad, Banaue town on April 17. Director Tschetter expressed his sorrow at learning the news. “Julia was a proud member of the Peace Corps family, and she contributed greatly to the lives of Filipino citizens in Donsol, Sorsogon, where she served,” he said. Latest: Suspect Juan Duntugan admits to killing Campbell. Leave your thoughts and condolences . |
| Warren Wiggins: Architect of the Peace Corps Warren Wiggins, who died at 84 on April 13, became one of the architects of the Peace Corps in 1961 when his paper, "A Towering Task," landed in the lap of Sargent Shriver, just as Shriver was trying to figure out how to turn the Peace Corps into a working federal department. Shriver was electrified by the treatise, which urged the agency to act boldly. Read Mr. Wiggins' obituary and biography, take an opportunity to read the original document that shaped the Peace Corps' mission, and read John Coyne's special issue commemorating "A Towering Task." |
| Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments. |
| He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor. |
| History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Connecticut Post
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Figures; COS - Fiji; Politics; Congress; Iraq
PCOL37989
47