Al Franken on War & Peace DFL Jr Senator (MN)

Supported airstrikes in Syria to fight ISIS

Franken countered that he pressed the FBI and US Justice Department to focus more resources to crack down on terrorist recruitment. Franken said McFadden last year ducked a question on what action to take after Syrian President Bashar Assad was believed to have used chemical weapons on his own people. "He refused to answer because it was a tough call," Franken said. "It is easy to score political points from the bleachers. This is a serious job. You've got to make real choices in real time."

Consistently opposed to Iraq War

The far right news and information machine vigorously attacked him for his leftist politics and trail of obscenity-laced, sex-act-peppered writings and television work.

Astounded anyone would still believe Iraq war is good idea

Coleman responded: “I will not tell the parents of any kid who has died in Iraq that their son died because of a mistake. I simply will not do that.” He said the surge in Iraq succeeded in allowing “the forces of moderation to triumph over extremism,” and that “failure isn’t an option” in the continued battle against terrorism.

Build schools in Afghanistan to keep them from Al-Qaida

Keep our country safe; but Iraq was a mistake

A: There is nothing more important to me than keeping this country and its citizens safe. And I will never hesitate to authorize the president to use force--unilaterally if need be--to defend this nation against imminent attack, or to respond to an attack.

That said, I have been speaking out for years--in books, on my radio show, and in public appearances around the country--about what a massive and scandalous mistake the Iraq War has been.

Our troops in Iraq & Afghanistan are incredibly dedicated and professional, and I think we must honor their service by giving them missions that are necessary and make sense.

Military action should be a last resort, used only when there is no diplomatic solution, when there are clear and achievable objectives, and when the action has moral and political legitimacy.

The first paragraph of this answer is not incompatible with the next two. And I’ll never let anyone suggest that it is.

Convince the Iraqi government that we’re leaving by leaving

The litany of mistakes in Iraq is endless

Start bringing our troops home from Iraq

Muslims hate our policies; they don't hate our freedom

Muslims aren't crazy to think that the conduct of the global war on terror has devolved into a self-serving political exercise. You can't trust Cheney and Rumsfeld to give you straight information. You can't trust them not to believe their own propaganda. You can't trust them. Period.

We build barriers in Iraq, but should rebuild infrastructure

A Bremer wall is a 12-foot-high, 5-ton reinforced concrete barrier that proved to be an innovative solution to the biggest problem in postwar Iraq: explosions.

The Bremer walls represented Bremer's legacy in many ways. Instead of providing security for all Iraqis, Bremer walls provided security for people lucky enough to live inside the Bremer walls--people like Paul Bremer. They reinforced the Iraqi's perception that our mission was not to protect them, but to protect ourselves FROM them. This is what reconstruction in Iraq has become. Building barriers instead of building Iraq's infrastructure.

Iran must accept long-term intrusive nuke inspection.

Excerpts from Letter from 85 Senators to President Obama We all hope that nuclear negotiations succeed in preventing Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapons capability. For diplomacy to succeed, however, we must couple our willingness to negotiate with a united and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime. We urge you to insist on the realization of these core principles with Iran:

• Iran has no inherent right to enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• Any agreement must dismantle Iran's nuclear weapons program and prevent it from ever having a path to a nuclear bomb.
• Iran has no reason to have an enrichment facility like Fordow, and that the regime must give up its heavy water reactor at Arak.
• Iran must submit to a long-term and intrusive inspection and verification regime.
• Iran must not be allowed during these negotiations to circumvent sanctions.

Opposing argument: (Cato Institute, "Enforcing Iran Nuke Deal," Jan. 25, 2017): More than anything else, the Iran nuclear deal must be kept because the alternative is a return to ever-heightening tensions and clamoring by hawks in both countries. From 2003 to 2014, years of unrelenting U.S. sanctions and confrontation, Iran went from 164 centrifuges to 19,000. The hostile approach generates a more expansive, less transparent Iranian nuclear program and increases the chances for another disastrous U.S. war in the Middle East. Let's hope the Trump administration chooses not to go that route.