2008 Iowa Senate Debate between Tom Harkin & Christopher Reed: on War & Peace

Christopher Reed: Support the surge; wants more positive news coverage

A: I think that over the last year, since the increase in the surge, I agree with what is going on in Iraq and I support it. The Iraqi troop level is up to over 540,000.

Q: What about the polls that people overwhelmingly oppose the war?

A: I’m not sure that Americans overwhelmingly oppose it. I think the idea that they’re not getting all the correct stats like those that I just gave, if more of that positive news came out instead of just the doom and gloom of Iraq came out I think more Americans would see what’s really going on over there.

Q: So, it’s our fault.

A: No, I wouldn’t say that. I just think that people need to be informed of what’s going on.

Christopher Reed: No timetable for exit; stay until Al Qaeda is quelled

A: I would say until we’re comfortable that the Al Qaeda threat and fundamentalism threat and people who want to destroy Americans just for being Americans is quelled.

Q: So, there’s no two years, ten years?

A: I would never put a timetable on that because all that serves to do is give our enemies a timetable to relax and wait for us to get to that timetable.

Christopher Reed: Saddam was a madman who had WMDs and used them

A: Propaganda. I think it was a madman that had possession and had used weapons of mass destruction before and was willing and able to use them again and we had to make sure that wasn’t going to happen.