HOUSE Republican Leader John Boehner

Washington, Sep 4, 2007 - House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement today after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on the success of the military surge in Iraq:

“At the beginning of this year, Democratic leaders invested their political fortunes in failure in Iraq. Now, hoping to save face amid irrefutable proof of our troops’ progress, they are grasping onto any and every shred of news that could embolden their message of defeat.

“The GAO report really amounts to asking someone to kick an 80-yard field goal and criticizing them when they came up 20 or 25 yards short. Rather than weighing whether or not Iraqis are making progress toward meeting goals, it asked whether or not they’ve met them – even though Operation Phantom Thunder has been underway for only a couple months. That’s an unfair way to judge our troops’ progress, and the report was designed to guarantee an unsatisfactory result.

“Rank-and-file Democratic Members visited Iraq last month and reported back favorably on the successes of the surge, and their leaders are clearly ready to do anything they can to keep these reports out of the headlines. As my Republican colleagues and I have said all year, we’ll listen to the generals on the ground and await any recommendations, next steps, or adjustments that may be needed in the strategy that Members of both parties are calling a success. It is critical that we continue working with the Iraqis to solidify the gains that have been made since the inception of the surge, and our troops are on track to do just that.”

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