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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Greenwich, CT, United States, 2006/10/13 - Libertarian Congressional candidate Phil Maymin, 31, is still the only candidate for Connecticut’s fourth district to propose an exit strategy for leaving Iraq, despite four public debates against his opponents, Christopher Shays and Diane Farrell.
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Both Shays and Farrell suggest “political solutions” to the war to be mediated by a “third party.”
“As a third-party candidate myself, I appreciate my opponents’ desire to have someone like me solve the problems they created,” quipped Maymin. “But there is no such thing as a political solution without a strong military to back up the decision. The only reason mediation or arbitration works in America is because if you don’t come to an agreement, a judge will make a decision for you and people with guns will come to enforce it. The Iraqi factions have irreconcilable differences and the only way to enforce an agreement is to essentially keep American troops there forever. Shays and Farrell have been spouting the same fluff for so long, they’ve established beyond any doubt that they are indistinguishable from each other.”
Maymin added, “I am the only candidate who would not have gone into Iraq even if the UN had supported it. Shays supported the invasion after trying to get UN approval, and Farrell supported the Spratt amendment, which called for an invasion subject to UN approval. I believe in the sovereignty of our nation and would never subject our troops to the direction of the United Nations. I would also never vote to authorize a war that was not in America’s national security interests. Shays and Farrell essentially supported this war in Iraq, or would have, had the UN authorized the use of force. I am the only candidate who would have opposed the invasion outright.”
Maymin said his exit strategy is based on the same Libertarian principle of securing the rights and freedoms of Americans. “My opponents use words like benchmarks and timetables and other keywords that basically mean it is up to the Iraqis when we leave. I am the only candidate to propose an exit strategy that is under our control. My exit strategy is based on maximizing America’s national security interests.”
The exit strategy is two steps, said Maymin. Step one is setting a fixed withdrawal deadline of next Independence Day, July 4th, 2007. Step two is sticking to that date. “Setting a deadline takes the legs out of the recruitment of insurgents and minimizes sectarian violence. Fewer Iraqis would join to fight against continuing occupation by America if they know the Americans are leaving soon anyway. It allows us enough time to quell the remaining terrorists who are the ones most likely to do harm to America. And it sends a signal both to our current enemies and our future enemies that we end wars on our terms, in a show of strength, and we do not simply wait around until enough American lives have been lost that we have no choice but to run.”
The only alternatives, Maymin said, are “cut-and-run now” and “cut-and-run later.” Staying indefinitely in practice means staying until we sustain heavy losses, and then cutting and running. Both alternatives are bad for America’s national security because it makes us weaker against our current and future enemies by encouraging them to resist with full force, knowing that we will eventually crack.
“Setting the deadline on such a symbolic and historic date as Independence Day lends further credence to our ability to use this powerful weapon of setting a firm date for withdrawal. Iraqi citizens, insurgents, Americans, and the rest of the world will know that our determination is sincere and our will inviolable because our decision rests on the proud history of our entire nation. We will have all our troops home by midnight, Eastern Standard Time, July 4th, 2007.”
Maymin said that the only way Americans can remain in Iraq after the deadline would be under extraordinary circumstances and only if Congress issues a declaration of war.
Maymin added, “We should not have to suffer the irony of celebrating our great day of independence while our taxes and our soldier's lives are being sacrificed to support an unjustified invasion halfway around the world.”
Maymin (mayminforcongress.com) is debating Shays and Farrell three more times next week. On Sunday, he debates them at Temple Israel in Westport. On Monday, he debates them at Fairfield University. On Tuesday, he debates them at Wilton High School in a forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
Highlights of past debates are available on Maymin’s website.
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campaign[.]mayminforcongress.com 
