Candidates Iraq Glance

[ProSense]

Candidates Iraq Glance

By The Associated Press
12:30 AM PST, November 22, 2006

Where the potential presidential candidates stand on the Iraq war:

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DEMOCRATS

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EVAN BAYH: The Indiana senator voted in 2002 to authorize the use of military force to oust Saddam Hussein. Since then, he has become a critic of the war. He supported the unsuccessful Levin-Reed amendment, which urged President Bush to transfer greater responsibility to the Iraqis and begin a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of the year. "If people don't trust us with their lives, they're unlikely to trust us with much else," Bayh said.

JOE BIDEN: The incoming chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted in 2002 to give Bush the authority to use military force. Since then, the Delaware senator has become a critic of the war and has advocated a plan that would divide the country along ethnic lines, relying on a central government only for matters of border control and allocation of oil resources. He has been critical of efforts to install a Western-style democracy.

WESLEY CLARK: The retired four-star general and former NATO commander has criticized the war as "a path to nowhere -- replete with hyped intelligence, macho slogans and an incredible failure to see the obvious." The 2004 presidential candidate said the goal to institute Western-style government was a flawed idea. He recently called for sustained shuttle diplomacy in the region and increased cooperation among the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: She also voted in 2002 to authorize the use of military force and has refused to recant her vote. But the New York senator has been a vocal critic of the way the war has been conducted, voting in June for the Levin-Reed amendment on a phased withdrawal. "Our country desperately needs a foreign policy based on bipartisan consensus and executed with nonpartisan competence," Clinton has said. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Nov. 15, she quizzed Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, about dividing the country along ethnic lines.

CHRIS DODD: The Connecticut senator voted to authorize military force in 2002 but later supported the Levin-Reed amendment. Dodd recently said he would prefer Iraqis take greater responsibility and the United States immediately deploy troops away from urban areas, into rural areas and along the border. Dodd opposes an ethnically divided Iraq and favors aggressive diplomacy.

JOHN EDWARDS: The 2004 vice presidential nominee voted to authorize military intervention, but since leaving the Senate has recanted his vote. The former North Carolina lawmaker advocates a phased troop redeployment from Iraq.

JOHN KERRY: The 2004 presidential nominee voted to authorize military force. But he subsequently voted against additional funds for the effort and has said the authorization vote was his biggest legislative mistake. In June, the Massachusetts senator and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., co-sponsored an amendment that would have set a July 1, 2007, deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. The amendment failed.

BARACK OBAMA: The Illinois senator is a longtime critic of the war, elected to the Senate after the conflict began. He voted for the Levin-Reed amendment in June but did not vote for the Kerry-Feingold amendment. In a recent speech, Obama called a "gradual and substantial" reduction of U.S. forces from Iraq that would begin in four months to six months. He also called for intensified efforts to train Iraqi security forces and new diplomacy with Syria and Iran.

BILL RICHARDSON: In September, the New Mexico governor and former U.N. ambassador outlined a strategy for Iraq that echoed the Biden approach: "I would set a timetable for withdrawal. I would couple that with a political solution of the three ethnic groups forcing them to have a political solution. There is no military solution. Specifically, I would divide up the oil revenue, the cabinet ministries and force them to come up with a new political framework."

TOM VILSACK: The Iowa governor has bemoaned the loss of the U.S. ability to negotiate a solution because it has squandered its diplomatic clout. "The U.S. doesn't seem like it's in position to broker peace," he said. "It doesn't seem to have the power. ... We're now dependent on other states to carry out diplomacy."

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REPUBLICANS

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Snip...

BILL FRIST: He voted for the use of force and continues to defend his vote. "Leaving Iraq to the terrorists is simply not an option," said the Senate majority leader. He joined Bush to oppose Democratic calls to withdraw forces from Iraq, but the Tennessee senator acknowledged the war made it tough for GOP candidates.

Snip...

RUDY GIULIANI: The former New York City mayor has supported Bush's war on terror and has said Democrats "don't support the military the way Republicans do." He said any withdrawal from Iraq would only encourage future attacks. "The jihadists very much want a victory in Iraq. They feel that if they could defeat us in Iraq they will have a great victory for terrorism," Giuliani said.

Snip...

JOHN McCAIN: The Arizona senator has warned that any pullout of troops could be disastrous. Instead, he has pushed the president to send in a heavy wave of troops to quell the violence and establish order. He has been public in his criticism of how the war has been run, but not the goals. During an exchange with Abizaid, McCain said: "I regret deeply that you seem to think that the status quo and the rate of progress we're making is acceptable. I think most Americans do not."

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[karynnj]

1. You would think that afterhearing "I voted for it ..." at least a billion

times - an AP writer with the knowledge of Congress most get in a high school civics course know that Kerry did not vote against the funding to cut off funds - but as he explained to vote against the bill that didn't pay for it and had NO Congressional oversight - I guess because we should trust the people doing it - they'll keep good track of the money.

Interesting that if you look at it overall - Kerry/Feingold (which they mischaracterize) defines many of the others.

[blm]

2. Kerry-Feingold was dealing with the REALITY that Iraq is in CIVIL WAR - a fact that

every other senator and candidate avoids MENTIONING. It HAS been in civil war since the beginning of the year, and most want to pretend it isn't at that point yet, as if it is yet to happen.

Pure political BULLSHIT.

[ProSense]

4. True! n/t

[Bobbie Jo]

3. Truth be told....

This administration could have sold most of us on the invasion of Canada back then....We were still reeling from the shock of 9/11, and were still very much in revenge mode. In fact, given the atmosphere perpetuated by BushCo...a vote against action was seen as a vote against America.

The run up to the war was nothing short of a mass marketing campaign.