Candidate Comparison: Iraq War

This is the second in my series of posts on the (six leading) candidates' positions on the issues. The first post was on abortion.

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Hillary Clinton
While she voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq in 2002, Clinton has since said that she "certainly wouldn't have voted" for the war if she had known then what she knows now. Clinton has advocated a phased redeployment of troops to move them out of harm's way, caps on the number of troops sent to Iraq and conditions for the Iraqi government to continue to receive funds.

John Edwards
While serving in the Senate, Edwards voted in 2002 to authorize funding for the war in Iraq, a vote he has since called a mistake. He is now in favor of a complete withdrawal of troops within 12 to 18 months. He wrote in a Washington Post opinion piece that "the world desperately needs moral leadership from America" and that "part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging when we've made mistakes."

Rudolph Giuliani
Giuliani supported President Bush's January 2007 decision to increase troops and has said pulling the U.S. military out of Iraq would be a "terrible mistake." He advocates keeping American forces in Iraq for as long as it takes to stabilize the country, but says, "I am not confident it's all going to turn around."

John McCain
McCain voted for the 2002 invasion of Iraq and remains supportive of President Bush's policies there. He has criticized management of the war, but says pulling out would be a mistake leading to greater instability and future conflicts in the region. McCain has defended the moral justification for the war. He refers to terrorism as "a malevolent force that defiles an honorable religion by disputing God's love for each and every soul on earth" and as "a fight between right and wrong, good and evil."

Barack Obama
Since Obama was not a member of the U.S. Senate in 2002, he did not vote on the authorization of the use of force in Iraq. But he was an opponent of the war effort as an Illinois state senator and campaigned against the war in his 2004 Senate bid. In January 2007, Obama introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act with a goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008. The bill would allow a limited number of U.S. troops to remain in Iraq for counterterrorism and the training of Iraqi security forces.

W. Mitt Romney
Romney supports President Bush's policy in Iraq, including his January 2007 decision to increase the number of troops in Iraq. He has criticized the planning and management of the Iraq conflict, but says keeping the U.S. in Iraq is the best option for minimizing casualties, securing the country and maintaining a democratic government there.

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It is no secret to any reader of this blog that I am pro-soldier but anti-war. I am disappointed that all of the leading Republican candidates support President Bush's Iraq War policies.