Lee Hamilton, Co-Chair of Iraq Study Group
“Lee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman who served as the Democratic co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group, said in an interview that he would support the measure if still serving in the House. … Mr. Hamilton said there is broad agreement with the benchmarks outlined in the House bill, requiring the Iraqi government to show more progress toward meeting both military and political goals to achieve reconciliation. … He said the time frame is ‘roughly the same as the Iraq Study Group.’” [Wall Street Journal, 3/19/07]

MoveOn.org
“MoveOn Members want a responsible end to the war by the end of 2007. While this measure doesn’t go far enough, they know the choice is a war without end or a safe and responsible end to the war. This measure is an important step in the right direction.” [MoveOn.org press release, 3/19/07]

Council for a Livable World
“It is vital that Iraq war opponents unite in support of the bill….The Supplemental Appropriations legislation is part of an ongoing process that will lead to Congress helping bring the war to an end. … The alternative to passing the Supplemental is not the passage of legislation with a tighter timeline. Rather, defeat of the Supplemental will hand President Bush the policy and political victory he longs for by enabling the passage of a funding bill with no restrictions or timeline for withdrawal at all. That would be an irresponsible and tragic outcome.” [letter to Members of Congress, 3/16/07]

Zbigniew Brzezinski, Former National Security Advisor under President Carter
“After four years of war, it is clear that a different approach is needed if the Iraqis are to be encouraged to make the political accommodations necessary to promote stability and national reconciliation. Despite President Bush’s request that our assistance to Iraq continue to be given with ‘no strings attached,’ the United States cannot afford an open-ended commitment to a war without end. A means must be devised to end the U.S. combat role in Iraq and reduce our troop levels, so that we can begin to rebuild our military and reclaim our position of leadership in the world. The bill the House will consider this week does that in an effective and responsible way.” [statement, 3/20/07]

Six Retired Generals and Other Retired Military Officers
“We urge you to put pressure on the Iraqi government to take control of their own country and relieve the burden from American troops by setting a clear and definite timeline for a phased and deliberate redeployment of American combat forces from Iraq by no later than August 2008.” [letter to Members of Congress, 3/16/07; letter signers include retired Lt. Gen. William Odom, Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, and Brigadier Gen. John Johns]

Bob Graham, Former U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee
“With the war in Iraq now in its fifth year, the need for a strategy to bring the involvement of United States combat troops in the fighting to an end is all the more urgent. The plan approved last week by the House Appropriations Committee …in my judgment offers a better chance of success than the open-ended commitment favored by President Bush. … The bill provides what is currently missing, a plan to redeploy our troops from a situation that cannot be improved by their continued presence. The American people expect Congress to take action on Iraq. The House bill provides a responsible way forward and I support it.” [Letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 3/20/07]

Retired General Wesley Clark, Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander
“House Democrats have offered a responsible approach that protects our Armed Forces, the troops and their families, and encourages both the Iraqis and the Bush Administration to work more effectively to salvage some success in ending what has been a tragically mistaken and failing mission. This conflict must be resolved politically - military efforts alone are insufficient – and this legislation strongly promotes that political solution. This legislation is the product of the kind of responsible legislative leadership that the American people voted for in 2006, and I wholeheartedly support this bill.” [statement, 3/14/07]

Tom Friedman, New York Times columnist
“I hope the Democrats, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, keep pushing to set a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq, because they are providing two patriotic services that the Republicans failed to offer in the previous four years. The first is policy discipline. … The other useful function Speaker Pelosi and her colleagues are performing is to give the President and Gen. David Petraeus, our commander in Iraq, the leverage of a deadline without a formal deadline. How so? The surge can’t work without political reconciliation among Iraqi factions, which means Sunni-Shiite negotiations – and such negotiations are unlikely to work without America having the ‘leverage’ of telling the parties that if they don’t compromise, we will leave. (Deadlines matter. At some point, Iraqis have to figure this out themselves.) Since Mr. Bush refused to set a deadline, Speaker Pelosi is the next best thing. … Speaker Pelosi, keep the heat on.” [Friedman column, New York Times, 3/21/07]