No Debating It: Republicans Offer No Plan for Iraq, Fail to Challenge 50 Year Strategy

Republican presidential candidates overwhelmingly support President Bush's 50 year strategy for Iraq. That was the only message that could be discerned from the stage at St. Anselm's College last night at the CNN/WMUR/NH Union Leader Republican presidential primary debate. While the Democratic candidates made clear in their debate on Sunday that they stand with the American people in support of ending the war in Iraq, the Republican presidential candidates continued to stand firm with President Bush's stay the course strategy at their debate, while tripping over their own feet trying to simultaneously distance themselves from the President's failed leadership.

The circus-like balancing act was not surprising, given that that the Republicans went into their debate sitting at the wrong end of a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing 64 percent of Americans disagree with them and do not think that we are making progress toward restoring civil order in Iraq. Another poll, from USA Today/Gallup, also showed 56 percent of Americans believe that the war was a mistake. [Washington Post, 6/5/07; USA Today, 6/5/07]

Perhaps the most akward moment for the candidates came on the question of how they would use President Bush were they to become President. All did their best to distance themselves from their unpopular leader, but seemed to forget they had spent the bulk of their time on the issue of Iraq defending the President's failed policies. None challenged the President's most recent plan that the AP recently reported as envisioning "a long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq similar to the one in South Korea where American forces have helped keep an uneasy peace for more than 50 years." [AP, 5/31/07; CNN/WMUR/NH Union Leader Republican debate, 6/5/07]

"By failing to challenge the President's plan to keep our troops in Iraq for the next 50 years, Republican presidential candidates last night offered the President their silent and de facto endorsement," said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Perhaps most insulting for our troops and their families who have already sacrificed so much, the leading Republicans could not even offer a plan of their own to get our brave troops out of the civil war in Iraq, and could offer nothing more than their ongoing support for the President's failed strategies. Americans deserve better."

REPUBLICANS OFFERED NO NEW
PLANS TO END THE WAR

MITT ROMNEY: POSSIBLY STABILIZE IRAQ

Gov. Romney refused to say whether he would order the invasion of Iraq knowing what we know now. He even misled people when he said inspectors had not been back to Iraq. He previously had said it would take 5-6 months to determine whether escalation was working, but his spokesperson has extended that to 15 months. Now, he says we should "possibly stabilize the central government."

Last Night: "Possibly" Stabilize Central Government

"And at this stage, the right thing for us to do is to see if we could possibly stabilize the central government in Iraq so that they can have stability, and so we can bring our troops home as soon as possible... I answered the question by saying it's a non- sequitur. It's a non -- null set kind of question, because you can go back and say, 'If we knew then what we know now, by virtue of inspectors having been let in and giving us that information, by virtue of if Saddam Hussein had followed the U.N. resolutions, we wouldn't be having this discussion.' So it's a hypothetical that I think is an unreasonable hypothetical. And the answer is: We did what we did. We did the right thing based on what we knew at that time. I think we made mistakes following the conduct or the collapse of Saddam's government."

Romney Previously Said He'd Assess Bush Plan in Five Months, Now At Least 15

Romney Spokesman Now Says It Could Take 15 Months to Assess Success of Troop Surge. Mitt Romney has attempted to reconcile his support of President Bushs troop surge and resounding public opinion against the plan by arguing that, the time to evaluate the effects of the surge may come soon. "I think we're going to know whether this is working in a matter of months, not years," Romney has said on multiple occasions. However, when asked how many months Romney had in mind, Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said: "That will depend on input from the military commanders... It could be 15 months." [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/07]

No Wonder He Won't Talk About it on the Trail

"He never mentions Iraq in his stump speech... On a late-May New Hampshire swing, he cruised through two performances before the word Iraq perforated his balloon. And then it was a high school student, who simply asked, 'What would you do about Iraq?' Romney offered a welter of details, of Sunnis and Shi'ites and Kurds, which sounded sort of knowledgeable but was actually quite superficial — he said there was a risk that Iran would 'take over' the Shi'ite areas, which is entirely unlikely — until finally, heading into the home stretch, he got to the point: he would support the President." [Time, 6/11/07 edition]

RUDY GIULIANI: PROPOSES LONG TERM NATION-BUILDING; REPORTING MORE GOOD NEWS

Mayor Giuliani reprised his role as Cheerleader-in-Chief for the Iraq War, but offered no solutions. He previously has said only that we have an obligation to stay in Iraq, and last night clarified that to mean “nation building.” He completely failed to answer what would happen if Generals announce that escalation is not working.

Giuliani Previously: Obligated to Stay

Giuliani Says US Has Obligation To Stay In Iraq: Giuliani said, “ ‘After defeating the enemy as we did in Iraq, after a sudden victory in deposing Saddam Hussein, we have a choice.’ It was clear, he said, that America had an obligation to stay.” [New York Times, 5/6/07]

Giuliani Last Night: Our Goal is Nation-Building

"Part of what we have to do and we haven't done right is take on that responsibility of nation-building. We created that responsibility for ourselves when we overthrew Saddam Hussein, which we did very effectively. It was one of the greatest military actions in American history, overthrowing Saddam Hussein. But we didn't accomplish the second step. People can only embrace democracy when they have an orderly existence. And we have to help provide that. We didn't want that role, but it is our role. ... And I'd just like to ask, I'd just like to ask one question I didn't get to ask before, when you said, if General Petraeus comes back in September and reports that things aren't going well, what are we going to do? But suppose General Petraeus comes back in September and reports that things are going pretty well. Are we going to report that with the same amount of attention that we would report the negative news?"

JOHN MCCAIN: STAY THE COURSE

Sen. McCain is on record saying that Americans would be satisfied if we stayed in Iraq for as long as 60 years. Nothing he said last night backed off that timeline.

McCain Previously: Nobody Would Mind 60 Years...

2007: McCain Called For Long-Term Troop Presence In Iraq. “Most Americans should accept a long-term United States military presence in Iraq as long as the number of U.S. casualties can drop to almost nothing, Senator John McCain said…’We have had troops in South Korea for 60 years and nobody minds,’ McCain said. ‘If you stay a long, long time, but have the Iraqis doing the fighting, and your people are back in the bases and away from the firing line, I think Americans would be satisfied.’” [Des Moines Register, 6/2/07]

McCain Last Night: Give War A Chance

"I think this strategy needs to be given a chance to succeed. We haven't barely gotten the fifth brigade over there, which is part of this strategy. I am convinced that if we fail and we have to withdraw, they will follow us home. It will be a base for Al Qaida. And we will be facing greater challenges and greater sacrifices than that already made by Matthew Stanley and his family. There is no doubt in my mind that this will become a base for terrorism, there will be chaos in the region."

FRED THOMPSON: WAIT AND SEE

“I think we’ve got to take the next step, and that is wait and see.” [Hannity and Colmes, Fox News Channel, 6/6/07]