The Senate Armed Services Committee, of which Senator Collins is a Member, today held a hearing to examine the findings of the long-awaited Iraqi Security Forces Independent Assessment Commission, also known as the “Jones Commission.” Among the major recommendations of the report are that American security forces should be transitioned to a new mission while putting more responsibility on the internal security on Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), consistent with the goals of the legislation authored by Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Senator Collins.
Senator Collins has released this statement on the ISF report:
“This comprehensive, independent report is further evidence in support of the goals set forth by the Nelson-Collins legislation. It underscores the need for an immediate change in mission of our troops, transitioning them away from combat roles and toward fighting terrorism, securing Iraq’s borders, and training Iraq forces. It is my hope that this report will help us to continue to build bipartisan support for our proposal, which would result in significant but responsible withdrawal of our troops.”
Senator Collins added, “General Jones has done an outstanding job with this report, which should be considered carefully when Congress takes up the Iraq policy debate again this fall.
Specifically, the report says, beginning as early as 2008, “The circumstances of the moment may continue to present the opportunity for considering a shift in the disposition and employment of our forces… such a strategy would include placing increasing responsibilities for the internal security of the nation on the ISF, especially in urban areas. Coalition forces could be re-tasked to better ensure the territorial defense of the state by increasingly concentrating on the eastern and western borders and the active defense of the critical infrastructures essential to Iraq.” [pg. 127]
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- ISF REPORT, 2 –
Senator Collins has also long maintained that stability in Iraq will occur only through political reconciliation, another stance echoed by the Commission’s report.
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