A Desert Storm veteran, a former commentator for National Public Radio, and a contributor to Newsweek.com, Turner has been an outspoken national critic of the war in Iraq since before the war began. In his announcement, the retired fighter pilot also praised former Governor Mark Warner’s decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat of outgoing Virginia Senator John Warner and pledged his full support to Governor Warner.

Like Governor Warner, my principal focus from now until November 6, 2007 will be on getting our local Democratic candidates elected. I’ve been working very closely with the entire slate of candidates running in Loudoun County, from the County Board of Supervisors to the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate.

Waterford, VA—Retired Air Force Colonel Mike Turner, who is challenging U.S. Congressman Frank Wolf in Virginia’s 10th Congressional District in 2008, today announced the launch of his campaign Web site at MikeTurmerforCongress.com. A Desert Storm veteran, a former commentator for National Public Radio, and a contributor to Newsweek.com, Turner has been an outspoken national critic of the war in Iraq since before the war began. In his announcement, the retired fighter pilot also praised former Governor Mark Warner’s decision to seek the U.S. Senate seat of outgoing Virginia Senator John Warner and pledged his full support to Governor Warner.

“I just can’t imagine a better candidate to run alongside in Northern Virginia than Governor Warner,” Turner said. “In my job as Precinct Operations for the Loudoun County Democratic party for the past year or so, I’ve knocked on a lot of doors and met a lot of voters. Governor Warner’s popularity is widespread and considerable. He’s a candidate who can appeal to moderates from both parties as well as his Democratic base, and he has a track record of solving tough, complex problems. That’s precisely the kind of race I plan to run.”

“Like Governor Warner, my principal focus from now until November 6, 2007 will be on getting our local Democratic candidates elected. I’ve been working very closely with the entire slate of candidates running in Loudoun County, from the County Board of Supervisors to the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate. They are an extraordinary group of very dedicated Virginians, and this is their time. These are critical local and state elections coming up, and the voters have a chance to make a real difference in their state. My job right now is to support those great candidates.”

Turner also announced the release, later today, of his recently completely white paper analyzing the impact of the testimony this week to Congress by General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq. In that paper, Turner reiterates his opinion, first expressed in an article for Newsweek.com in 2004, that a sustainable political objective in Iraq could be the creation of a loose federation of three states—Shia, Sunni, and Kurd—stabilized by the presence of Muslim U.N. peacekeepers and supported logistically by U.S. forces. Under this plan, U.S. forces would be redeployed to remote border locations as U.N. forces arrived and would assume a mission of border security and counter-terrorist operations.

“The biggest tragedy of General Petraeus’ testimony,” Turner said, “is that the Bush Administration and senior Congressional leaders—including my opponent, Congressman Frank Wolf—will use it to resurrect their failed ‘stay the course’ policy.

Turner said the white paper as well as a number of his articles and commentaries are posted on his Web site. He will also be starting his blog, Aim Higher, later this month.