When it comes to war in Iraq, the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates are all over the map. Howard Dean is against war in Iraq but in favor of considering war in North Korea. Bob Graham is against attacking Iraq unless we also attack Hamas. John Kerry is in favor of war if it works out but against it if it doesn't. It's gotten to where you can't tell the players without a score card. So, here's a score card. We've checked out the candidates' positions on four key questions and three congressional votes, and we've ranked them in order of hawkishness, from most to least.

The top hawk, Joe Lieberman, and the top dove, Dennis Kucinich, get extra winger points for being vocal about their war positions. The other candidates ranked are John Edwards, Dick Gephardt, Carol Moseley-Braun, and Al Sharpton. The icons in the chart below indicate which candidates took a hawkish or dovish position on each question or vote. Waffles indicate a position from which the candidate could later claim to have been on either side, depending on how things turn out. The quotes used to categorize each candidate are given below the chart, with links to the original documents when available.

LIEBERMAN
Is it war for oil? No.

Is containment enough? No. "Five years ago, after Saddam ejected the U.N. inspectors, John McCain and I gave up on containment and introduced the Iraqi Liberation Act, which … made a change of regime in Baghdad official U.S. policy." (Speech, Feb. 8, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? No. On Al Gore's claim that attacking Iraq could detract from the war on terror: "I respectfully disagree with that part of it. I am confident the American military can do, and will do, both at once." (Associated Press, Sept. 25, 2002)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? Yes. "If the U.N. doesn't act, we have to put together our own international coalition and change that regime in Baghdad." ( Face the Nation, Nov. 24, 2002)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Voted yes.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Co-sponsored it.

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted yes.

EDWARDS
Is it war for oil? No.

Is containment enough? No. "Saddam needs to be disarmed. What you're describing as a policy of containment—that sort of approach has not worked." (AP, Feb. 9, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? No. "I reject the false choice between fighting the war on terrorism and combating the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. The United States' national security requires both." ( Foreign Policy, March-April 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? Yes. "If the Security Council is prevented from supporting this new [disarmament] effort, then the United States must be prepared to act with as many allies as possible to address this threat." (Senate floor speech, Oct. 10, 2002)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Wasn't in Congress.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Wasn't in Congress.

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted yes.

GEPHARDT
Is it war for oil? No.

Is containment enough? No. "[Saddam] continues to develop weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear devices. … We have an obligation to protect the United States by preventing him from getting these weapons, and either using them himself or passing them or their components on to terrorists who share his destructive intent." (House floor speech, Oct. 10, 2002)

Will it disrupt war on terror? No. "What we're talking about here is keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists. And the first place you'd have to look if you were worried about that is Iraq. So, I have agreed that we need to reach this goal diplomatically if we can, militarily if we must." (PBS NewsHour, Feb. 24, 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? Yes. Tim Russert: "But if [Bush] doesn't get [a second resolution] and decides to go forward without the U.N., you would support him?" Gephardt: "I've said [we must deal with Iraq] diplomatically if we can, militarily if we must." ( Meet the Press, Feb. 23, 2003)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Voted no  but now says he was wrong. (House floor speech, Oct. 10, 2002)

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Voted yes.

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted yes.

KERRY
Is it war for oil? No.

Is containment enough? No, because deterrence doesn't work in this case. "We need to disarm Saddam Hussein. … He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation." (Speech, Jan. 23, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? No, if we're careful; yes, if we aren't. "We need to make certain that we have not unnecessarily twisted so many arms, created so many reluctant partners, abused the trust of Congress, or strained so many relations, that the longer term and more immediate vital war on terror is made more difficult." (Speech, Jan. 23, 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? Yes, if we're careful; no, if we aren't. "I would be willing to support the president providing [that] there is an imminent threat that has been shown and that the breach reaches the standard that we all agree on. I will not support the president to proceed unilaterally if it is simply the president's effort to try to do regime change without regard to the legitimacy of the inspection process or the legitimacy of the United Nations process." (Meet the Press, Dec. 1, 2002)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Voted no but now says, "I was not against using force. I was against moving so precipitously that we didn't have the consent … of the American people." (Meet the Press, Dec. 1, 2002)

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Passed Senate Oct. 7, 1998, by unanimous consent (no roll call).

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted yes.

GRAHAM
Is it war for oil? No.

Is containment enough? Yes, at least for a while. "Saddam Hussein is an evil man who at some point we may have to take on. … [But] the first priority should be to complete the war on terror while we continue to surveil, contain, and attempt to degrade Saddam Hussein's capabilities." (St. Petersburg Times, Oct. 6, 2002)

Will it disrupt war on terror? Yes. "Iraq is a primary distraction from achieving our goals or reducing the threat of international terrorism." (New York Times, Sept. 10, 2002)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? Evidently not, since Graham opposes the isolated use of force against Iraq even with U.N. approval.

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Voted yes.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Passed Senate Oct. 7, 1998, by unanimous consent (no roll call).

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted no, saying the resolution should have authorized force against terrorist groups as well: "This resolution is too timid. … War abroad will, without assertive security action, increase the prospects of terrorist attacks here at home." (Senate floor speech, Oct. 10, 2002)

DEAN
Is it war for oil? No. Unlike other war opponents, Dean denies this: "Anti-American feelings will surely be inflamed among the misguided who choose to see an assault on Iraq as an attack on Islam or as a means of controlling Iraqi oil." (Speech, Feb. 17, 2003)

Is containment enough? Yes. "Saddam, in my view, has been successfully contained for 12 years. … We can stop Saddam Hussein from doing anything for another 12 years if we have to without invading." ( Meet the Press, March 9, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? Yes. "We are shifting our focus from the known threat of Al Qaeda to the less certain threat of Saddam Hussein." (Campaign Web site)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? No. "Going into Iraq has very little do to with protecting the United States of America, and that's why I think this is a job for the United Nations and not for the United States." ( Meet the Press, March 9, 2003)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Wasn't in Congress.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Wasn't in Congress.

2002 Iraq force authorization: Wasn't in Congress but says, "I would have voted against the resolution." (Campaign Web site)

SHARPTON
Is it war for oil? Yes. ''The one thing they've got in Iraq that they don't have in North Korea is oil." (AP, Jan. 4, 2003)

Is containment enough? Yes. Saddam's weapons of mass destruction "have not been used" for 12 years. "What evidence do you have after 12 years he's going to use them now?" (Hannity & Colmes, March 6, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? Yes. "My priority as president would be to capture Bin Laden and al-Qaida who has already attacked us and not to engage in questionable priorities of putting in many ways the pursuit of Hussein over the pursuit of people that have already attacked." (PBS NewsHour, March 4, 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? No. "I don't think there should be a unilateral military action. … If we lose the debate, then we must try to find common ground with the rest of the world." (PBS NewsHour, March 4, 2003)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Wasn't in Congress.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Wasn't in Congress.

2002 Iraq force authorization: Wasn't in Congress but says, "I have opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning." (Speech, Feb. 22, 2003)

MOSELEY-BRAUN
Is it war for oil? Yes. "If the administration were to level with us and say, you know, this [war] really is about oil, then we could have a better sense of … whether it's worth all of that." (PBS NewsHour, March 3, 2003)

Is containment enough? Yes, since war isn't necessary. "Getting [Saddam] out of power would be a good thing if it comes about as a result of diplomacy. But that's not what we're doing." (PBS NewsHour, March 3, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? Yes. After Sept. 11, "Allies everywhere resolved to join us in a fight to rid the planet of the scourge of terrorism. … Today, that goodwill has all but evaporated. Rather than fritter away that support in a mad rush to pre-emptive, unilateral, military action … we would do well to foster cooperation to freeze the very ground in which extremism and terrorism fester." (Speech, Feb. 21, 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? No. "We should not go to war unilaterally." (AP, Feb. 15, 2003)

1991 Kuwait force authorization: Wasn't in Congress.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act: Passed Senate Oct. 7, 1998, by unanimous consent (no roll call).

2002 Iraq force authorization: Wasn't in Congress.

KUCINICH
Is it war for oil? Yes. "One of the motivating factors involved in this effort to strike against Iraq is the desire on the part of some to be able to control the oil interests in Iraq." ( Meet the Press, Feb. 23, 2003)

Is containment enough? Yes. "We need to continue on the path of containment, continue on the path of inspections, and avoid this war." ( Meet the Press, Feb. 23, 2003)

Will it disrupt war on terror? Yes. "If the United States goes ahead and attacks Iraq, it's sure to make this country less secure. It's sure to create more terrorism in this country." ( Meet the Press, Feb. 23, 2003)

If U.N. balks, go it alone? No. Kucinich opposes war even with U.N. approval: "To try to gather support [in the United Nations] for a war is taking this nation and the world in the wrong direction." (PBS NewsHour, Feb. 27, 2003)

1991 Persian Gulf war: Wasn't in Congress.

1998 Iraq Liberation Act:  Voted yes  but tries to explain it away. ( Meet the Press, Feb. 23, 2003)

2002 Iraq force authorization: Voted no.