Democrats say Iraq squandered U.S. surge

WASHINGTON, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- A U.S. congressman said Saturday the United States needs to get out of Iraq for the sake of the Iraqi people.

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., said in the Democrats' weekly radio address that the Baghdad government failed to take advantage of the U.S security “surge” and advance a political agreement to unite the fractured nation.

“The United States needs a new direction in its policy on Iraq,” said Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The situation calls for a change of course. We need to get out of Iraq, for that country's sake as well as our own.”

Lantos said Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had not shown “the slightest inclination” toward political compromise.

He also said Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Gen. David Petraeus had come to Washington this week with the “impossible task” of shoring up a Bush administration policy in which the American people had already lost confidence.