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DEL.ICIO.USVerbatim: Iraq and the 10th District debate
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Iraq was the topic of the first question asked of the nine candidates for Congress participating in the Atlanta Press Club/GPTV debate on Tuesday afternoon.
Republican Jim Whitehead of Columbia County, thought to be the front-runner in the contest for the 10th District seat, was the only candidate who chose not to appear.
Even so, with so many candidates talking, it’s hard to make generalizations. But it’s fair to say that the five Republicans in the debate spoke less about bringing troops home than the three Democrats and one Libertarian.
We’ve transcribed their remarks on the war. You can see them in full on the jump.
James Marlow, Democrat: The quicker we have an honorable exit from Iraq, the better. In Congress, I’ll do everything possible to make that happen. What I’m recommending that we do is listen to the wise counsel of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, and that we have a staged withdrawal from Iraq, that we have a major diplomatic offensive in the region, and that we work to fight and protect America both here and abroad. There are many things that we need to be doing. We’re clearly not going about it the right way. The American military has done their job, it’s now time for the Iraqi people to do their job. We’re currently fighting the war on a credit card, and that credit card is owned by the Chinese. And I just don’t think this is the right way to go about it. We don’t have to occupy a nation in order to fight terrorism in it.
Denise Freeman, Democrat: We have to honor the men and women who are fighting in Iraq. And as I talk to them across this district as I travel, they’re telling me it’s time for us to come home. It’s time for us to bring them home, and until that time, if we have a timetable, it needs to be confidential. We need to make sure that our commanders who are in the armed forces, who know what’s best — because that’s what they were trained to do, they know what it is they need to do. Give them the tools, the equipment so that they can continue to fight this war, end it efficiently, and effectively with the [least] amount of lives lost, and they can come home to us safely. And that’s what we need to do — is to bring our troops home.
Nate Pulliam, Republican: I am the only one of the 10 candidates who was actually a career military officer and who actually served in combat in Iraq. I was an advisor to the 6th Iraqi Infantry Division from November ’05 to November ’06. My boss was wounded three weeks after I got there. The Iraqi general I advised was killed in an ambush, and I lost two very close friends in November. The Bush Administration has made terrible mistakes in Iraq, but despite that we absolutely must prevail in Iraq. I define victory in Iraq as leaving a stable, peaceful Iraq that’s under neither the domination of Iran nor a safe haven for Al-Qaida. We must do three things. We must provide security to buy time for the Iraqi government to stand up, we must assist their military, and we must keep pressure on them to do the right thing. A government that does not win its wars will not survive as a nation.
Evita Paschall, Democrat: We have to support our troops. It is my belief that we should allow the surge to continue. It has been alleged that the surge will bring the results that we’re seeking by the end of the year. I think we should allow that to happen. And if it’s not resolved by the end, it’s my belief that we should have a gradual reduction of the troops, but at a time when the military determines that we should have a gradual reduction. I don’t believe we should have a specific time when the troops are removed.
Jim Sendelbach, Libertarian: The libertarian position would be one of non-intervention. We wouldn’t have been there in the first place. But the fact is that we are there and doing a fine job, but our goals are not clear. What is it that we’re doing there? I’d like to see the president clarify that for the benefit of the American people. And once that is clear, then to have him work with the other countries. All of the neighboring countries — Saudi Arabia, Jordan — really should be involved in this conflict. And if they are not, at least I don’t know why they’re not participating in it, this is not an American war. And I also believe that a timetable would be disastrous for our American forces there.
Erick Underwood, Republican: I’m the only person here with a plan. It’s called the Underwood plan. It’s a bold step in the right direction. The Underwood plan separates Iraq into three regions: Sunni, Shi’ite, and Kurd, and creates one national parliament at the national level that will elect a rotating prime minister and/or president. I believe that the Underwood plan will unite Iraq together, and will finally be the infrastructure that we need to bring our troops finally home. More of my plan is at erikunderwoodforcongress.com.
Mark Myers, Republican: There’s a lot of uncertainty in Iraq, but one thing is very certain. If the president and the congress send mix messages, it will discourage our troops and it will encourage the terrorist. So I think we need to speak with one voice, and the Iraqis are going to have to accept the responsibility of their own protection. So this is going to be a short-term stay, I hope we can get this wrapped up. But we don’t need to be red states and blue states, we need to be the United States and be red, white and blue states. I have more information at my web site, markmyersforcongress.com.
Paul Broun, Republican: The president has a new policy in Iraq, and I think we need to just give it a chance to work. It needs to be just a reasonable amount of time. Fighting in Iraq is just one front on this whole war on global terror. And actually it’s not a war against terrorism. It’s a war against Islamic fascists who want to totally destroy America and our way of life. We do have a new policy, we need to see it work, we need to do everything that we can to fight these people, because they do want to destroy America. We’re fighting in Afghanistan and Somalia and a whole lot of different places. But the generals need to fight, we need to let the soldiers fight, and stop the defensive war that we’ve been doing.
Bill Greene, Republican: I’m not running for commander-in-chief. I am running for the United States Congress. The question was, ‘What are the next steps that need to be taken in this particular war.’ Well, the first step that needs to be taken is to get Congress out of the war. We have allowed politics to control what we’re doing here. We’ve allowed especially the Pelosi Democrats — who are trying to pull the rug out from under our troops in Iraq. We need to get the politicians out of the way — get the 535 commanders-in-chief out of the way. Let the Army do what the Army does best — all the armed forces — what they do best, which is to kill our enemy and break their stuff. If we allow them to that we will have victory in Iraq and in the war against Islamic fascism. And then they will be able to come home, and not until then.
Comments
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By TK
June 12, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this
I would guess that since most of the candidates and panel focused on James Marlow in this debate, he is the frontrunner. Whitehead may have the most monies raised but James Marlow is the clear leader in this race.
By SpaceyG
June 12, 2007 9:05 PM | Link to this
You can have the exclusive, Jim… even before the SPG or PP! Here’s a behind-the-scenes YouTube peek at the taping of tonight’s 10th Congressional debate. Enjoy!