Prepared Remarks to Minuteman Forum Lecture Series

We may be safer than we were four years ago, but we are not as safe at home as we were two years ago. We cannot continue a strategy of perpetual war against terrorism. Because of the occupation of Iraq, a new generation of jihadists are learning deadly skills that can be employed both over there, and here in the United States. Hurricane Katrina revealed that the security structure put in place since 9/11 did not perform well and is under-resourced. The United States needs to restructure and reduce its presence in Iraq; review its policies in the Middle East; develop a realistic and sustainable energy policy; and pursues a balanced national security strategy that employs and funds all dimensions of our national power, including international development assistance and homeland security in addition to defense programs.

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