State of Virginia secondary Archives: on War & Peace
Harris Miller:
It was a mistake to go to Iraq; we were misled by Powell
Q: Would you have voted in October of 2002 to authorize the Iraq war? WEBB: I clearly would not have. If you read the "Washington Post" piece I wrote in September 2002, I was saying don't do it.
Q: Mr. Miller, would you have voted to authorize?
MILLER: I didn't have access to all the intelligence that Senator Allen and other senators had. But looking back, no.
Q: Was it a mistake to go to Iraq?
MILLER: Yes, sir.
WEBB: It was and I said so at the time.
Q: Is there any difference
between your position and his?
WEBB: I think I arrived at it far earlier than Harris Miller did. I think this is recent for him.
Q: At the time that we went were you cheering that decision or opposing it instinctively?
MILLER: I wasn't opposing
it instinctively because I believed General Colin Powell when he said that there was a plan to deal with the post-war effort. In fact, that was a lie. We were misled by the president. It became clear within three or four months it was a huge mistake.
Source: VA 2006 Democratic Senate Primary debate [X-ref Webb]
Jun 9, 2006
Jim Gilmore:
Any kind of timetable in Iraq is not responsible
Gilmore said he would support pursuing the war in Iraq to completion. Warner said he would not set a timeline for troops to come home from Iraq. But Gilmore accused Warner of changing his stance from last year, when he said troops should start to leave i
January 2009. Gilmore said the troops should stay as long as needed. "Any kind of timetable is not responsible," he said. "This is not the way to be conducting foreign policy in Iraq."
Source: Washington Post on 2008 VA Senate debate
Sep 19, 2008
Jim Gilmore:
No timeline for withdrawal from Iraq
The two men differed on foreign policy: Warner said he favors the withdrawal of troops from Iraq but not on an "arbitrary timeline." He said he has not completely agreed with either Obama or
McCain on the issue, but clarified that he previously stated troop withdrawal should begin in January. Gilmore said there should be no timeline for troop withdrawal.
Source: 2008 VA Senate Debate in The Washington Times
Sep 19, 2008
Mark Warner:
No timetable to end war in Iraq
Gilmore said he would support pursuing the war in Iraq to completion. Warner said he would not set a timeline for troops to come home from Iraq. But Gilmore accused Warner of changing his stance from last year, when he said troops should start to leave i
January 2009. Gilmore said the troops should stay as long as needed. "Any kind of timetable is not responsible," he said. "This is not the way to be conducting foreign policy in Iraq."
Source: Washington Post on 2008 VA Senate debate
Sep 19, 2008
Mark Warner:
Withdraw from Iraq but no arbitrary timeline
The two men differed on foreign policy: Warner said he favors the withdrawal of troops from Iraq but not on an "arbitrary timeline." He said he has not completely agreed with either Obama or
McCain on the issue, but clarified that he previously stated troop withdrawal should begin in January. Gilmore said there should be no timeline for troop withdrawal.
Source: 2008 VA Senate Debate in The Washington Times
Sep 19, 2008
Mark Warner:
Redeploy troops to Afghanistan; focus on Pakistan & Iran
Warner said the country is facing the need to redeploy troops to Afghanistan. He said Pakistan, along with Iran, is one of the most dangerous countries in the world because of its "potential threat."
He softened the statement after the debate and said Pakistan is "a potential flashpoint" in world affairs.
Source: 2008 VA Senate Debate in The Washington Times
Sep 19, 2008
Tom Garrett:
Require a declaration of war and a clear purpose
We cannot rashly send our best and brightest into harm's way to be involved in unnecessary military conflicts. Our military servicemen and service women have gladly volunteered to join our military and are willing to sacrifice the lives, bodies,
dreams, and futures for our sakes. We owe them the assurance that we will not take that sacrifice lightly, and that when we do call upon them that we will send them there to win, quickly, with every bit of support we can muster, and then bring them home.
"As a veteran who served in one of those foreign engagements which lacked a clear purpose, I have a unique perspective on what we are asking our fighting men and women to do when we send them overseas. We owe them a
Declaration of War when we ask them to fight, a legitimate national defense situation, a defined enemy, a realistic plan for defeating that enemy, and a quick journey home once we have defeated that enemy."
Source: 2016 VA House campaign website TomGarrettForCongress.com
Nov 8, 2016
Tom Perriello:
Signed the Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq
Americans are less safe today than on September 12th. Tom has spent much of his career fighting for justice-based security solutions in Western Africa, Darfur, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Tom was one of the first signers of the Responsible Plan to End the
War in Iraq, which will allow peaceful and political reconciliation to take place. Tom believes that to be safer, we need to be giving our intelligence officers the resources they need, not our constitutional rights.
Source: 2008 VA House campaign website PerrielloForCongress.com
Nov 1, 2008
Page last updated: Feb 18, 2023