The Presidential Candidates on Iraq

11/29/ 08:05 AM HOME PAGE MY TIMES TODAY'S PAPER VIDEO MOST POPULAR TIMES TOPICS My Account Welcome, 109412 Member Center Log Out U.S. All NYT Poli Thursday, November 29, WORLD U.S. N.Y. / REGION BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE HEALTH SPORTS OPINION ARTS STYLE TRAVEL JOBS REAL ESTATE AUTOS POLITICS WASHINGTON EDUCATION Candidates Profiles, Recent Articles and Multimedia The Presidential Candidates on Iraq The war in Iraq is, as expected, one of the threshhold issues of the 2008 presidential election. A look at the candidates and what they have said on various aspects of the issue. - FARHANA HOSSAIN AND BEN WERSCHKUL The s The s THE CANDIDATE POSITION ON THE 2002 INVASION POSITION ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S TROOP POSITION ON WITHDRAWAL The Primary Season State Profiles ic Calendar Calendar Schedules Candidates on the Trail Coming Events Past Events Finances Donations and Expenditures Search for Donors Issues Where the Candidates Stand On: Abortion Climate Change Health Care Immigration Iran Iraq Joseph R. Biden Jr. Biden Opposes a Troop Increase in Iraq (Dec. 27, 2006) Hillary Rodham Clinton Clinton Says Some G.I.'s in Iraq Would Remain (March 15, ) It was a mistake to assume the president would use the authority we gave him properly...we gave the president the authority to unite the world to isolate Saddam. And the fact of the matter is, we went too soon. We went without sufficient force. And we went without a plan. -- On "Meet the Press," Nov. 27, 2005 If I had been President in October of 2002, I would have never asked for authority to divert our attention from Afghanistan to Iraq, and I certainly would never have started this war. -- On the Senate Floor, Feb. 7, I believe the president's strategy is not a solution...i believe it's a tragic mistake...we've tried that kind of escalation twice before in Baghdad, and it's failed twice in Baghdad, and I fear it will fail a third time. -- At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jan. 11, The surge, which is ongoing, and obviously if we're going to do it we hope it is more successful than perhaps I think it could be. I'm going to root for it if it has any chance of success, but I think it's more likely that the anti- American violence and sectarian violence just moves from place to place to place like the old Whac a Mole. -- In an Interview, March 15, WITH DECENTRALIZATION [T]he real question is, are we going to be able to leave Iraq, get our troops out and leave behind something other than chaos? In order to do that, the president should start off by not vetoing the language...saying begin to draw down American troops right now, and move toward a political solution. Look, there's only one way. You got to change the fundamental premise of this engagement, and that is, you got to decentralize Iraq, you got to give the regions control over their own destiny, give them control over their own police forces, their own identity, and have a limited central government and share their oil wealth. -- At the ic [T]rying to withdraw is not something you snap your fingers and tell people, do it tomorrow. It has to be done in a thoughtful, orderly, careful way that defends our troops on these routes they're going to have to take to get men and equipment out of Iraq. -- In an Interview, March 15, Chris Dodd Had we known before the I do not believe that the We must begin immediately to reposition our troops from Page 1 of 5

11/29/ 08:05 AM war what we know today - that there were no weapons of mass destruction; that there were no links between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda; that there was no imminent threat from Iraq to America's security or vital interests - Congress would never have considered, let alone voted to authorize, the use of force in Iraq. authorization provided by the Congress in 2002 gives the President the unlimited authority to send additional troops to Iraq. to reposition our troops from Baghdad, Fallujah, and other large urban centers to Kurdistan, where there is relative law and order, and where they would be more accepted; to other, less populated areas of Iraq, where their training of Iraqi forces can continue; and to border areas, where they can protect the territorial integrity of Iraq until Iraqi forces can do so themselves. John Edwards Familiar Face, but a New Tone to the Message (Feb. 5, ) I was wrong...the argument for going to war with Iraq was based on intelligence that we now know was inaccurate. The information the American people were hearing from the president -- and that I was being given by our intelligence community -- wasn't the whole story. Had I known this at the time, I never would have voted for this war. I believe it is a betrayal not to speak out against the escalation of the war our nation is engaged in today, in Iraq. It is a betrayal for this President to send more troops into harm's way when we know it will not succeed in bringing stability to the region. -- To the ic National Committee, Feb. 2, WITHDRAWAL WITHIN 18 MONTHS We have to take the next step and cap funding to mandate a withdrawal. We don't need debate; we don't need non-binding resolutions; we need to end this war, and Congress has the power to do it. -- His Plan for Iraq, Feb. 14, -- Washington Post Op-Ed, Nov. 13, 2005 Mike Gravel FROM THE BEGINNING Given the extreme importance of any decision to go to war, and I am anguished to say this, it's my opinion that anyone who voted for the war on October 11 - based on what President Bush represented - is not qualified to hold the office of President. -- To the ic National Committee, Feb. 5, It is not enough for congress to merely voice opposition to the 'surge' of over 20,000 new troops, nor is it enough to threaten to withhold funding or pass non binding, symbolic resolutions. We must demand an end to this war now - not 6 or 12 or 24 months from now. -- gravel2008.us WITHDRAW NOW I got to tell you, we should just plain get out. Just plain get out. It's their country. They're asking us to leave, and we insist on staying there.. -- At the ic Dennis Kucinich VOTED NO IN 2002, STILL This attempt to foment a war is really against the best interests of America, it is against the spirit of the country, it is against the economic interests of the people. -- In an Interview, Sept. 21, 2002 This escalation means a continuation of the occupation, more troop and civilian casualties, more anger toward the US, more support for the insurgency, more instability in Iraq and in the region, and prolonged civil war at a time when there is a general agreement in the world community that the solution in Iraq must be political not military. What is needed is a comprehensive political process. And the decision is not President Bush's alone to make. -- In a Speech, Jan. 8, DE-FUND AND WITHDRAW NOW I think it's inconsistent to tell the American people that you oppose the war, and yet you continue to vote to fund the war, because every time you vote to fund the war, you're reauthorizing the war all over again. -- At the ic Barack Obama As Candidate, Obama Carves Antiwar Stance (Feb. 26, ) FROM THE BEGINNING I know that invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East and encourage the worst rather than best impulses in the Arab world and strengthen the Too many lives have been lost and too many billions have been spent for us to trust the President on another tried and failed policy opposed by generals and experts, s and s, Americans and even the Iraqis I'm proud of the fact that I put forward a plan in January that mirrors what Congress ultimately adopted, and it says, there's no military solution to this. We've got to have a political solution, begin a phased withdrawal, and Page 2 of 5

11/29/ 08:05 AM Arab world and strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars, I am opposed to dumb wars. -- Speech to Illinois state legislature, Oct. 2002 Americans and even the Iraqis themselves. It is time for us to fundamentally change our policy. -- On the Senate Floor, Jan. 30, make certain that we've got benchmarks in place so that the Iraqi people can make a determination about how they want to move forward. -- At the ic Bill Richardson, KNOWING WHAT HE KNOWS NOW I have struggled for a long time over Iraq. Like most Americans, I am saddened by the horrific violence that takes dozens, scores of innocent lives every day. And like most Americans, I believe that our country has a moral obligation to do what we can to help the Iraqis end that violence. And because of that belief, it has not been easy for me to come to this conclusion: that the best thing we can do for them as well as for ourselves is to leave. -- In a Speech, Dec. 16, 2006 Like every American, I want to give the president a chance. I want him to succeed. But what he's proposing is just not going to work. Twenty-thousand additional troops, it's a quagmire. Our military, our bipartisan Iraq Study Group says that we have got to reverse course and he is not listening. -- "Larry King Live," Jan. 24, WITHDRAWAL BY END OF This is what I would do if I were president today. I would withdraw all of our troops, including residual troops, by the end of this calendar year. I would use the leverage of that withdrawal, coupled with intensive diplomacy in three areas: One, a political framework led by the United States where the three religious entities in Iraq have a coalition government...number two, I would convene a security conference, and I would invite Iran and Syria...And thirdly, I would have a donor conference. I would have other countries take over the reconstruction responsibility and the security of Iraq. -- At the ic THE CANDIDATE POSITION ON THE 2002 INVASION POSITION ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S TROOP POSITION ON WITHDRAWAL Rudy Giuliani Giuliani Iraq Views May Provide Cover (Feb. 14, ) OF DECISION TO I think it's quite appropriate to go back and explain, 'Well, I might have done it this way, or I might have done it with more troops, or I might have done it some other way.' But here's the reality of it: We're at war. And we're at war because they're at war with us. They want to come here and kill us so we've got to put Iraq in the context of a much broader picture than just Iraq. -- On " Hannity and Colmes", Feb. 6, I support what the president asked for support to do and what General Petraeus has asked for support to do, not because there's any guarantee it's going to work. There's never any guarantee at war. But if we can come out with a correct solution or a better solution in Iraq, it's going to make the whole war on terror go better. -- On " Hannity and Colmes", Feb. 6, I detect in the s a kind of attempt to go back to a pre-september 11 mentality in which we're not anticipating. And I also believe that they would not have made the mistake of wanting to force us to give our enemies a timetable of our retreat I've never heard of an army in the history of the world being required, if it's going to retreat, to give its enemy a timetable of that retreat.. -- On " Fox News Sunday", May 14, Mike Huckabee OF DECISION TO We need to understand that this is, in fact, World War III. Unlike any other world war we've ever fought, this one is one we cannot afford to lose. -- In an Interview, Feb. 9, TENTATIVELY IN FAVOR OF TROOP I'm going to have to trust the people over there sucking that sand into their lungs and putting their boots on the ground every day, that they may know a little more about it than those of us who don't have the stack full of intelligence reports to look at. -- On "MSNBC", Feb. 13, GRADUAL CEDING OF RESPONSIBILITY TO IRAQIS It's like a baseball game, not a football game. You can't put on a specific clock...we have to tell them, look, we're not going to be here indefinitely. What we're going to expect of you is you're going to have to get control of the sectarian violence, the civil war that is just ripping this whole thing apart because the American people are not going to stay indefinitely It all depends on how things go over the next year. -- On "This Week", Feb. 11, Page 3 of 5

11/29/ 08:05 AM Duncan Hunter The greatest protection of human rights in this decade has been the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. -- gohunter08.com The number of troops that we've got...is still less troops than we had last December, a year ago December. So the so-called big surge actually takes us up to fewer folks than we had one year and two months ago in Iraq. -- On "Late Edition," Feb. 11, GRADUAL CEDING OF RESPONSIBILITY TO IRAQIS There is a right way to leave Iraq and that is to continue to rotate Iraqi battalions that we've trained and equipped into the fight. -- In an Interview, Feb. 20, John McCain McCain Sees 'No Plan B' for Iraq War (April 15, ) I agreed with the President's difficult decision to go to war in Iraq. I remain fully supportive of his determination not to leave Iraq until the freely elected government of that country and its armed forces are able to defend their country from foreign and domestic enemies intent on thwarting the will of the Iraqi people to create a civil society in which the rights and security of all Iraqis are protected. -- In a Statement, Aug. 25, 2006 SUPPORTS THE TROOP I've been a bit surprised at the level, at the amount of progress that they've achieved with only two, and now three, of the five brigades. I've also been not surprised but sorry that some of this activity has gone outside of Baghdad. -- In an Interview, April 14, I have no Plan B...I cannot give you a good alternative because if I had a good alternative, maybe we could consider it now. Every alternative that I know of that is keyed to a date for withdrawal, which that would dictate, is chaos in the region. And genocide. -- In an Interview, April 14, Ron Paul VOTED NO IN 2002, STILL Many of the same voices who then demanded that the Clinton Administration attack Iraq are now demanding that the Bush Administration attack Iraq. It is unfortunate that these individuals are using the tragedy of September 11, 2001 as cover to force their long-standing desire to see an American invasion of Iraq. Despite all of the information to which I have access, I remain very skeptical that the nation of Iraq poses a serious and immanent terrorist threat to the United States. -- On the Floor of the U.S. House, Oct. 8, 2002 A military victory in Iraq is unattainable, just as it was in the Vietnam war. As conditions deteriorate in Iraq, the American people are told more blood must be spilled to achieve just such a military victory. 20,000 additional troops and another $100 billion are needed for a surge. Yet the people remain rightfully skeptical. Though we've been in Iraq nearly four years, the meager goal today simply is to secure Baghdad. This hardly shows that the mission is even partly accomplished. -- On the Floor of the U.S. House, Jan. 11, WITHDRAW NOW I think we should come home as quickly as possible. There were a lot of -- a lot of false information on the reasons we went in there, and there's no good reason to stay right now. They say that the main reason for staying now, after given numerous reasons, we're supposed to stay now, because if we leave there will be chaos. My argument is there's plenty of chaos right there now, and a lot of Americans are being killed. And it was never in our national security interest to go over there. -- On CNN, Feb. 26, Mitt Romney OF DECISION TO It is critical for us to remember that Iraq has to be considered in the context of what's happening in the Middle East and throughout the world. There is a global jihadist effort. Violent, radical jihadists want to replace all the governments of the moderate Islamic states, replace them with a caliphate. And to do that, they also want to bring down the West, in particular us. -- At the I believe that so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population. -- During His Presidential Announcement, Feb. 13, Q: Can you foresee any circumstances under which you would pull out of Iraq without leaving behind a stable political and security situation? Well, I'm certainly not going to project failure, and those kind of circumstances that you would suggest would be projecting failure. It is critical for us to remember that Iraq has to be considered in the context of what's happening in the Middle East and throughout the world. There is a global jihadist effort. Violent, radical jihadists want to replace all the governments of the moderate Islamic states, Page 4 of 5

11/29/ 08:05 AM replace them with a caliphate. And to do that, they also want to bring down the West, in particular us.. -- At the Tom Tancredo Given the fact that [weapons of mass destruction] have not been found and perhaps were not there, we all wonder what we would have done in those circumstances had we known that. If I knew that was not the threat that had been posed to us... I think I would have voted no. I do not know right now that that (no vote) would have been the right vote because this thing hasn't played out. -- In an Interview, Dec. 5, 2005 The bigger question raised by the President is whether an increased American military presence in Iraq will aid us in winning the global war against radical Islam and I am not convinced that it will. -- In an Interview, Jan. 10, PHASED WITHDRAWAL I think that we have to understand that we are going to be in Iraq or at least in the region for a long time. Our national interests dictate that. We are not going to be removing our troops from the area. We can't, for all the reasons that have been identified here. The question is, in what capacity we will be there and what capacity those troops will be there? Will they be a constabulary force, which I do not believe they should be? Will they be a supporting force for the Iraqi government and for the Iraqi forces themselves, which I believe they should be? -- At the Fred D. Thompson I think we got to remember what it would be like if we had not done what we did. Saddam would still be there, having defeated the United Nations, all the resolutions. It would have defeated the United States in effect. It would have been in a position to continue its nuclear weapons program. His two sons would still have been doing what they were doing -- putting people in human shredders and attacking their neighbors. And I think, especially in light of what Iran is doing right now, they certainly would have been in a nuclear competition in that part of the world, sitting on those oil reserves. -- On "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," Sept. 5, Wars are full of mistakes. You rectify things. I think we're doing that now. We're coming in with good people. We're coming in with a lot of different people. I know General Petraeus from when he was in Tennessee at Fort Campbell. He believes in the plan. He's convinced me that they can do the job. -- On "Fox News Sunday," March 11, PHASED WITHDRAWAL Well, I think we ought to stay on the course that we're on. The scenario that's planned, as I understand it, involves a withdrawal of troops next, next spring or summer as a part of the success scenario. But I don't think that we ought to, to be armchair generals and say that a few more or few less ought to be the, the way to go when we've got people on the ground who apparently now know what they're doing. -- On "Meet the Press," Nov. 4, Home World U.S. N.Y. / Region Business Technology Science Health Sports Opinion Arts Style Travel Jobs Real Estate Autos Back to Top Copyright The New York Times Company Privacy Policy Search Corrections RSS First Look Help Contact Us Work for Us Media Kit Site Map Page 5 of 5