HOME / slate fare: The inner workings of Slate.

The Great Presidential MashupThe Democrats on Iraq.

Posted Friday, Sept. 7, 2007, at 10:23 AM ET

(Continued from page 2)

RSS

We have to prepare for the possibility, which George Bush has never done, that things may actually go bad. That means we've got to be prepared to control a civil war if it starts to spill outside the borders of Iraq. And we have to be prepared for the worst possibility that you never hear anyone talking about, which is the possibility that genocide breaks out and the Shi'a try to systematically eliminate the Sunni. As president of the United States, I would plan and prepare for all those possibilities.

Sen. Mike Gravel

South Carolina Debate, April 26, 2007

Well, first off, understand that this war was lost the day that George Bush invaded Iraq on a fraudulent basis. Understand that. Now with respect to what's going on in the Congress, I'm really embarrassed.

You pass the law, not a resolution, a law making it a felony to stay there. And I'll give you the text of it. If you're worried about filibuster, here's what you do tactically. They can pass it in the House. We've got the votes there. In the Senate, let them filibuster it. And let Reid call up every—at 12:00 every day to have a cloture vote. And let the American people see clearly who's keeping the war going and who's not.

I got to tell you, I'm president of the United States, there will be no pre-emptive wars with nuclear devices. To my mind, it's immoral, and it's been immoral for the last 50 years as part of American foreign policy.

You want to—you want to tell the Iraqis how to run their country. I got to tell you, we should just plain get out—just plain get out. It's their country. They're asking us to leave. And we insist on staying there. And why not get out? What harm is it going to do? Oh, you hear the statement, "Well, my God, these soldiers will have died in vain." The entire deaths of Vietnam died in vain. And they're dying in vain right this very second. And you know what's worse than a soldier dying in vain? It's more soldiers dying in vain. That's what's worse.

New Hampshire Debate, June 3, 2007

Four of these people here will say that it's George Bush's war. It was facilitated by the Democrats. They brought the resolution up. One of them authored, co-authored it here, standing here. And so it's—sure, it's George Bush's war. But it's the Democrats' war also.

Now that you want to end it, you're concerned about what's going to happen after we withdraw. Remember Vietnam. All the dominoes are going to fall. Southeast Asia's going to go—is going to go Communist. Well, how do we know what will happen? I do know this, that the insurgency is successful because the population sustains that insurgency, period.

More Americans died because of their decision. That disqualifies them for president. It doesn't mean they're bad people. It just means that they don't have moral judgment. And that's very important when you become president.

Washington, D.C., Debate, June 28, 2007

Twenty-one million Americans could have a four-year college scholarship for the money we've squandered in Iraq—7.6 million teachers could have been hired last year if we weren't squandering this money.

CNN/YouTube Debate, July 23, 2007

What are they dying for right now in Iraq every single day? Let me tell you: There's only one thing worse than a soldier dying in vain—it's more soldiers dying in vain.

George Bush's oil war was a mistake. We need to stop killing Americans and Iraqis. Been around since the beginning of time. It's not a war. It should be a police action based on global intelligence. It's the most serious problem facing humanity today. A universal voucher system will provide equal treatment and choice of providers. The Congress has to stop raiding the surplus.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich

South Carolina Debate, April 26, 2007

I think it's inconsistent to tell the American people that you oppose the war and, yet, you continue to vote to fund the war. Because every time you vote to fund the war, you're reauthorizing the war all over again.

The Democrats have the power to end the war right now, and that's what we should do. They were under no obligation to give George Bush any money at all. The money's in the pipeline to bring the troops home. And that's exactly what ought to be done, at this moment.

I have a plan, H.R. 1234, a plan to end the war in Iraq, which calls on the international community to provide peacekeepers and security forces that will move in as our troops leave. But we can't do that until we determine we're going to end the occupation. And we will do that when we stop the funding.

I made the choice not to go to war.

I think when people understand not only that I opposed the war from the start, but I opposed the idea of using war as a matter of policy. I don't think it reflects America's greatness.

When my good friends were called upon to make a decision and then made the wrong decision.

Apologies aren't enough, because we've had 3,333 Americans die. Perhaps as many as over 650,000 innocent Iraqis die. People are looking for a president who has the wisdom to make the right choices about America's security and who also has the integrity to be able to take a stand that may be unpopular.

The fact of the matter is that the global war on terror has been a pretext for aggressive war. As president of the United States, I intend to take America in a different direction, rejecting war as an instrument of policy, reconnecting with the nations of the world, so that we can address the real issues that affect security all over the globe and affect our security at home.

We're in Iraq for oil. We're looking at attacking Iran for oil.

New Hampshire Debate, June 3, 2007

This war has been based on lies. And we could have a productive evening here right now if all of my colleagues on this stage or in the Congress would commit to telling the Democratic leadership not even to offer a funding bill, because that's really the way to end the war, Wolf. Just say, no money. The war is over. You want to end it? Bring them home. Stop the funding. And this is where Sen. Clinton says, well, this is George Bush's war. Oh, no. There's a teachable moment here. And the teachable moment is that this war belongs to the Democratic Party because the Democrats were put in charge by the people in the last election with the thought that they were going to end the war.

The money's in the pipeline right now, enough to bring the troops home. Let's end the war and let's make this a productive evening.

This country has to end its occupation of Iraq. And as I mentioned earlier, the Congress, the Democratic Congress, has a very serious responsibility in this regard. We should simply not provide any bill at all. It's one thing to say you don't have the votes. It's another thing not to even offer a bill and tell the president he has the money now that's in the pipeline to bring the troops home.

His war has degraded our service ability, and we need to have certainly a strong Army, but I believe that peace is the way we reflect our strength. So, I want to see an American military that will be a strong peacekeeping force, not one that is being misused, like the one in this administration misuses our military.

I don't think that a president of the United States who believes in peace and who wants to create peace in the world is going to be using assassination as a tool. Because when you do that, it comes back at your country. And I think that Osama Bin Laden, if he's still alive, ought to be held to account in an international court of law. And so should any other person who's been involved in a violation of international law which has resulted in the deaths of many people.

An America that stands for peace is a strong country.

Washington, D.C., Debate, June 28, 2007

We have to remember that with a nation right now that will spend anywhere from $1 [trillion] to $2 trillion on this war, that is money out of the educational lives of our children. We need to remember the connection.