Video: Senator Feingold says Iraq report 'completely misses the point'

David EdwardsPublished: Thursday December 7, 2006

Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) is one of the few voices in Washington, D.C. who is sharply criticizing the Iraq Study Group Report, which he believes "completely misses the point."

Appearing on M5NBC Countdown, Feingold said, "This [Iraq report] continues the ultimate mistake in Washington of looking at the world through the prism of Iraq, instead of looking at the threat of al-Qaeda as a global problem."

In a statement released yesterday, Feingold wrote, "Unfortunately, the Iraq Study Group report does too little to change the flawed mind-set that led to the misguided war in Iraq."

"Maybe there are still people in Washington who need a study group to tell them that the policy in Iraq isn’t working, but the American people are way ahead of this report," Feingold's statement continued.

"While the report has regenerated a few good ideas, it doesn’t adequately put Iraq in the context of a broader national security strategy," the statement went on. "We need an Iraq policy that is guided by our top national security priority – defeating the terrorist network that attacked us on 9/11 and its allies."

"We can’t continue to just look at Iraq in isolation," Feingold wrote. "Unless we set a serious timetable for redeploying our troops from Iraq, we will be unable to effectively address these global threats. In the end, this report is a regrettable example of ‘official Washington’ missing the point."

Watch Senator Feingold's full statement below.