Grassley backs troop withdrawal

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley backs President Bush’s plan to bring some 70,000 U-S troops from Europe and Asia back to American soil and close many bases overseas. Grassley says the move should have been made a couple of years ago but it would have been seen as inappropriate following the September 11th attacks. Grassley says in previous generations, the U-S has always fought a nation — be it Germany, Japan or England. Today’s war on terror is different, he says, as we’re fighting a people. He says al Qaida is a “mysterious enemy…a people that have no respect for the rule of law, traditional rules of war that go back for centuries, you gotta’ have a whole new approach to our national security.” Grassley supports bringing troops back to the U-S to create a “fast, mobile force” that could respond to any future homeland threat. He says the proposed pullout would also “show distaste” towards Germany and France for “not supporting us the way they should’ve” in Iraq.