Martha Coakley on War & Peace

Bring troops home from Afghanistan

Focus efforts where terrorists are, not Afghanistan

"I'm not sure there is a way to succeed," Coakley said. "If the goal was, and the mission in Afghanistan was to go in because we believe that the Taliban was giving harbor to terrorists, we supported that, I supported that goal. They're gone. They're not there anymore. They're in Yemen. They're in Pakistan. Let's focus our efforts on where al-Qaida is and not always decide we need to."

"Would you then send troops into Yemen, where al-Qaida is?" Gergen asked.

"No," Coakley replied. "That's exactly the point. This is not about sending troops everywhere we think al-Qaida may be."

End the war in Iraq by 2011

The situation in Iraq remains dire. There are 1.5 million Iraqi refugees in bordering countries, and inside Iraq there are almost 3 million displaced people. Most Iraqis still lack access to clean water and sanitation, health care, and ample nutrition. The war has claimed somewhere between 130,000 and 230,000 Iraqi lives. Given such hardship and the many roadblocks to productive American involvement on the ground, it is now crucial that American troops leave the country in order for Iraq to effectively rebuild.