Analysts and political pundits expect that voters disillusioned with the war in Iraq will vote Democratic on Tuesday in the hope that more Democrats in Congress will force the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to begin withdrawing U.S. forces. Ironically, the majority of the Democrats in tight political races are not the cut-and-run types that Bush's senior strategist, Karl Rove, would have you believe. If elected, they are unlikely to lead any charge toward the exits in Iraq.
Many of these candidates for Congress have served in the military. Virginia U.S. Senate candidate Jim Webb is a decorated Vietnam War veteran. Pennsylvania Democratic House candidate Patrick Murphy won a Bronze Star in Iraq. One of the party's rising stars is Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in Iraq when her helicopter was shot down. Even Pennsylvania Representative John Murtha, the decorated ex-Marine whom the White House has tried to paint as a "Defeatocrat," supports a "redeployment of the U.S. military from Iraq [that] does not equate to abandoning Iraq."
The U.S. media's coverage of the midterm campaigns has tended to portray Democratic candidates as all over the map on Iraq, but in truth, Democrats are more united on what to do in Iraq than at any point since 2002, when they debated whether to authorize the use of force to topple Saddam Hussein: They are not in favor of cutting and running.
True, Democratic office-seekers aren't very specific about what they would do in Iraq. Few offer such detailed plans as that of Delaware Senator Joe Biden, who proposes that Iraq's Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites form three autonomous regions in the country. Instead, they generally call for "a phased redeployment" of U.S. troops in Iraq and across the region to help stabilize Iraq and free up troops so they can fight the war on terror.
For instance, Duckworth, who is seeking a congressional seat in Illinois, believes that the United States cannot "simply pull up stakes" in Iraq because it would "create a security vacuum" and "risk allowing [Iraq] ... to become a base for terrorists." She supports a pullout of U.S. forces on a schedule based on the training of Iraq's armed forces.
Democrat Bob Casey Jr., who is trying to unseat Senator Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, believes that 2006 "should be a year of transition for the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own security and governance." To that end, he has promised to "push for a clear exit strategy" for U.S. forces that could include redeployment but would not result in an imminent pullout.
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