A group of Democratic congressional candidates is set to roll out a comprehensive plan to change the policy dialog on national security and the continuing occupation of Iraq.

The announcement was made Sunday by Darcy Burner (pictured), a candidate for Congress in Washington’s 8th Congressional district, and Matt Stoller, who blogs at OpenLeft.com, at a blogger forum and training in Washington, D.C., today.  The plan will be rolled out Monday at the three-day Take Back America conference, which will include progressive activists, Democratic officials and bloggers from across the country.

Burner said in her remarks, “Ten years ago it would have been impossible for a congressional candidate like me to have an impact on the policy dialog,” and noted that the candidates who are signing on to this plan are taking a large risk. Burner called on bloggers from across the country to call attention to the plan, to which 10 congressional candidates have already signed on.

Stoller said of the plan “we want to allow the public to translate their desire to end the war by voting for candidates who want to end the war … this is an important effort, and we’re going to put it to the voters.” According to Burner, retired Gen. Paul Eaton, who preceded David Petraeus in commanding U.S. forces in Iraq, was a major resource in building the plan.

The main points of the plan include:

  • No residual troops
  • A diplomatic surge
  • Humanitarian work — engaging the international community
  • Fixing the structural problems at home that got us into the war in the first place: eliminate presidential signing statements, eliminate the use of torture, phase out the use of private contractors

The full plan will appear on Monday at ResponsiblePlan.com.