Daschle-Thune Debate: on War & Peace

John Thune: Finishing the job means setting up a democracy in Iraq

A: It means getting to where we have a democracy set up in Iraq, where we have free elections, where we have an Iraqi army that is trained and prepared to defend itself. General Petras is working on that on a daily basis and the Iraqis are stepping up, they are providing for more of their security, but there’s more that needs to be done. The Americans over there right now need to be the reinforcers, not the enforcers.

John Thune: Support sending more American troops to Iraq if necessary

A: We have to rely on our military leadership. General Abizaid, General Casey, the people who are going to be making those recommendations to the president, if they call for more troops, the president will step forward and we have to support that. It’s important right now for us as a nation to show resolve, to be decisive and to finish the job and win the war on terror.

John Thune: Iraq is a part of the broader war on terror

A: I don’t agree with that. Iraq is a part of the broader war on terror. It is a war that we have to win. Obviously the question before the House is: What will we do differently? I don’t think there’s an answer to that question that’s been offered. It’s to create an interim government, move to free elections, ratify a constitution, train an Iraqi army. Those steps are being taken. This is going to be a tough job and nobody said otherwise. We knew going in that this was going to be a tough part of the world that we were going to have to fight, we’re going to have to make sure that we create a democratic system there, that people in Iraq have freedom and we have to finish the job. This is not a time to cut and run, but to show resolve and the international community is responding.

John Thune: We have to stay resolute or the terrorists will prevail

A: The policy that’s been laid out by Bush is one of, you know, creating an interim government and Prime Minister Allawi is going to be here. He’s going to be meeting with the White House at the UN, and the message he’s going to deliver is that we are making progress. But this is tough work. This is not going to be easy. These are terrorists. These are people who think nothing of butchering and slaughtering their own people. The US, as the leader of the Free World, has to stay strong. We have to stay resolute. We need to finish the job. If we don’t, the terrorists are going to prevail and that spells disaster for the people of the US and for our national security as we move forward from here.

Tom Daschle: We can do much better fighting the war in Iraq

Tom Daschle: Would still voted to authorize Bush to go to war

A: I stand by my vote. We can’t turn back the clock. We’ve got to go from here and look at how we can win this war. We’ve got to provide our troops more equipment. We’ve got to listen to our military commanders. We’ve got to have better intelligence. We’ve got to make sure we involve the international community in burden sharing a lot more than we are. We’re going to do better at this war in the future.

Tom Daschle: The war in Iraq is being run the wrong way

A: It’s being run the wrong way. There’s a day doesn’t go by when I don’t think of those thousand who have died and those 7,000 who were wounded. The real issue is how can we do it better How can we make this work? The Bush administration has not provided any aid or any real appreciation for the international coalition that we have to create if we’re going to do this right. We’re not providing the equipment and the support for our troops It’s amazing we’re using sandbags and plywood in our Humvees and we’re doing bake sales for body armor. We’re not getting the military the equipment that they have to have to run this war. If you listen to the military commanders, if you had the international cooperation, if we really supported the troops with body armor and the equipment that they have to have, and if you did those kinds of things, we could be doing a lot better job than we are today.