Here is what our Senate candidates are saying about Iraq.

Tom Allen– Maine

In 2002, when most members of Congress supported the resolution authorizing war in Iraq, Tom Allen courageously voted against it. A vocal opponent of the war since its ill-conceived inception, Tom is actively working to end the U.S. involvement in the war in Iraq. In the spring of 2007, Tom Allen voted for a series of bills that would have begun the process of bringing our troops home. Unfortunately, President Bush vetoed this bill, refusing to heed the will of the American people and of Congress…

Four years later, we see the disastrous consequences of that blank check. The United States is less safe and deeper in debt. The U.S. occupation has made Iraq a base for terrorist operations. Indefinite deployment of U.S. troops in Iraq is not sustainable and America’s military readiness is dangerously strained. This war has shredded America’s image around the world, and undermined our credibility and moral authority.

It is time to end this war.

Larry LaRocco– Idaho

It’s time for Congress to chart a new bipartisan direction for the war in Iraq. The Bush Administration has made tragic blunders in Iraq. We must now demand that the Congress assert its Constitutional role and check the delusional policy of escalation adopted by President Bush. … We must chart a new way forward in Iraq that will provide a withdrawal timetable while protecting our strategic interests abroad and strengthening our security at home.

Tom Udall– New Mexico

New Mexicans know my record on issues like reducing domestic violence and drunk driving, improving access to health care and education, protecting our Constitutional freedoms, conserving our natural treasures, and ending the misguided war in Iraq. New Mexico deserves a Senator who has the courage to do what’s right, and I have the integrity and experience you can trust. As we begin this campaign, I ask for your support. Working together, we can move the Senate in a New Direction.

Mark Udall– Colorado

Like so many Americans, I believe our soldiers in Iraq have performed magnificently. They have endured brutal conditions. They have met every challenge. And they have displayed an unbreakable spirit, marked by courage, skill, and quiet resolve.

We have asked them to do so much. It’s time to bring them home.

I say this not as a partisan or even as a Democrat. Too much politics and partisanship have gotten wrapped up in the war. That’s not what we need to bring our country together, to find the right path to bring out troops home.

I say it as an American who is deeply committed to our troops, who understands the critical role they play in keeping our families safe.

I’ve served as a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and I have been to Iraq twice. I’ve seen the classified briefings. I know the threat of terrorism is real.

But I also know that making us safe means making the right choices. Securing our borders. Increasing our port security. Making sure our armed forces are strong…and that when we send our troops into harm’s way we should only do it based on good intelligence and good planning, with a clear mission, and the right equipment and resources to get the job done.

The Bush Administration failed this test when it launched the preemptive invasion of Iraq in 2003. That’s a big reason why I voted against the Congressional Authorization giving President Bush a green light to wage war in 2002. I was not convinced that the Administration had the right rationale, the right allies or the right plan to avoid a costly quagmire in the Middle East. I felt so strongly that President Bush had it wrong, I even offered my own resolution to slow the rush to war, and make sure that only Congress has the Constitutional authority to take this nation to war.

Scott Kleeb– Nebraska

On the Iraq war, Kleeb said he refuses to be confined by one of two options: getting troops out of Iraq or staying for a long run.

He said the war is much too complex to be boiled down to those two choices. The goal, he said, should be to try to get the nation’s troops out of Iraq without leaving a power vacuum in the Middle East and without leaving chaos behind.

“We need to replace our unilateral American presence with a multinational presence to make sure the country does not descend into civil war,” he said.

Andrew Rice– Oklahoma

After losing his older brother in the World Trade Center attack on 9/11/01, Andrew Rice and his family were hopeful that international goodwill toward the United States would be converted into a global campaign to reign in terrorists and bring the perpetrators of 9/11 to justice. Rice was involved with other 9/11 families in pressuring the U.S. government to stay focused on terrorism and avoid military adventures in the Middle East, a cauldron of religious conflict for centuries. However, he could see that most of the politicians in Washington weren’t listening to the grieving families. He knew that in order to effect change, he would need a stronger hand. In 2006, Rice was elected State Senator in Oklahoma. Today, he is challenging incumbent Jim Inhofe for U.S. Senate.

Rice believes that:

1) By never questioning the wisdom of this war, Senator Inhofe’s rubber stamp support for the Bush Iraq War policy has betrayed American soldiers and their families who are asked to sacrifice;

2) Congress should force the President to implement an orderly redeployment of American troops from the Civil War in Iraq and adequately finance their health and well-being as they return home;

3) Once the Iraq Civil War is no longer draining American lives and treasure, the U.S. can refocus our might and skill on identifying and destroying terrorist cells around the world. Just 18 days before the start of the Iraq War, America enjoyed one of our greatest successes since 9/11 when our intelligence forces cooperated with Pakistani intelligence to capture Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Rather than refereeing a civil war, this surgical raid in a Pakistani village 4 ½ years ago serves as an example of American strength against terror. Mohammed remains in U.S. custody today.

Ronnie Musgrove– Mississippi

Musgrove said he would focus on economic issues for families struggling to pay for higher fuel and food costs and worried about keeping jobs and homes.

Musgrove touted his time as governor of the state from 2000 to 2004 as a time of job growth and positive strides in education for Mississippi. Barbour defeated Musgrove in his bid for second term.

Musgrove mentioned his son, Michael, is a Marine sergeant on his second tour of duty in Iraq, but hesitated when asked his position on the war in Iraq, preferring to focus on economic issues.

“We need to spend more effort in finding Osama bin Laden,” he said. “We’re bogged down. The enemy is all over.”

Al Franken– Minnesota

I say it’s time to leave Iraq. Our troops have served magnificently, but even General Petraeus has stated that military action alone cannot fix Iraq.

It’s been clear for years that this war was a mistake, and that mistake after mistake has been made in the conduct of it. And in my books, on my radio show, and all over this country, I’ve been speaking out for years about this sad, tragic mess. Now it’s time for all of us to come to terms with the truth about the situation there.

Jeanne Shaheen– New Hampshire

The devastating, mismanaged war in Iraq has tarnished America’s image in the world and made us less safe at home. Jeanne Shaheen will work to end the war in Iraq and bring our troops home safely and responsibly as soon as possible and begin the hard work of rebuilding our alliances and restoring America’s reputation in the world. Jeanne believes we need a firm date to begin withdrawing our troops and a plan for a phased withdrawal that protects the safety of our men and women in uniform.

Jeff Merkley– Oregon

Jeff Merkley opposed George Bush’s Iraq policy from the beginning.

Gordon Smith blindly followed Bush’s reckless agenda for war in Iraq. Smith strongly backed Bush’s stubborn “surge” plan that’s put even more soldiers in harm’s way. Jeff Merkley—a former weapon’s analyst for the Pentagon—knows the Bush-Smith policy just doesn’t add up, and is fed up with their excuses for this foreign policy disaster.

Two days after the war began in 2003, Jeff Merkley gave a speech in the Oregon House which included strong doubts about the war:

Colleagues, I have not been and am not today persuaded that Iraq was a significant threat to the United States or that the war we fight today is the best strategy to fight terrorism or the wisest application of our superpower resources.

Jeff has laid out a five-point path for stability in the region that will redeploy American combat troops and engage the Iraqis in rebuilding their country.

Steve Novick– Oregon

Our men and women serving in Iraq are doing an exceptional job under incredibly challenging conditions. But no amount of military professionalism can forge a political resolution to this poorly conceived and disastrously planned war. It is time to bring our troops home from Iraq and work with the world and the region to take a new direction in the reconstruction. Here at home, it is time to honor our veterans’ service with access to benefits and an end to bureaucratic barriers to care. And we must rebuild our international credibility on human rights, arms control and the rule of law if we are to defeat extremism and hatred.

Kay Hagan– North Carolina

“I agree that we need to protect and support our troops who are serving our country, ensure that our military is prepared, and our veterans are cared for; in fact, that is what I helped do in North Carolina,” she said in a statement. “But we must do so while simultaneously finding a way to end this war. We need accountability in Washington to ensure this war does not remain open-ended for years to come.”

Jim Neal– North Carolina

Our troops have done everything we asked of them – and I don’t want to see any more of them die or suffer injury.

It’s time to bring them home to rejoin their families and be a part of their communities again. We have a duty to them to ensure they receive the medical care, education and career opportunities they have earned by putting their lives at risk for us.

After redeployment, we should only require small strategic units in the region to counter terrorism and protect vital American interests.

Vivian Figures– Alabama

Her belief is that our country will change for the better when we adopt better priorities. These are Vivian’s:

Bringing our troops home from Iraq’s foreign, religious civil war…

Rick Noriega– Texas

Rick Noriega has seen firsthand the toll the war is taking on America’s families. As a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard deployed to Afghanistan in 2004, Noriega has been on the front lines and knows our fighting men and women deserve a new direction in Iraq.

The failure of Washington politicians like Mr. Cornyn to demand a change in direction in Iraq has let our country down, let our state down, and let our men and women in uniform down. And it’s cost us over $200 million a day — money that could be used for investments and middle class tax relief here in America.

Rick is running for Senate to responsibly end the war and bring our troops safely home, with a phased military re-deployment that responsibly extracts our forces from Iraq’s civil wars, and brings home the funding spent on the war to invest in education and health care.

If you can find recent statements about the war from Mark Warner of Virginia, Bob Tuke of Tennessee, Greg Fischer and Bruce Lunsford of Kentucky, or Mark Begich of Alaska, put them in the comments, please. We also have candidates in Wyoming, Kansas, and Georgia. If you want to look into their positions, use Senate Guru to find their names and websites.

It seems to me that Mark Warner, Kay Hagan, and Ronnie Musgrove are not strong on ending the war. The rest of the field seems at least rhetorically committed to it.

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