Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Where do we go from here in Iraq?

In order, unless the Q went to Alan or Ned, the order was Joe, Alan, Ned
From my written notes, not necessarily quotes

Joe:
*I've spent a lot of time with soldiers and their families
*No one wants to end this war more than I do
*Can't compromise homeland security/national security
*Cannot disrespect the sacrifice our soldiers and their families have made
*I issues a 10-point plan to get out of Iraq
Alan:
*Military has done a terrific jo
*Problem in Iraq is not military
*This is now a political problem
*We can prop up al-Maliki or use a three state solution
*Split into Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd and equally distribute country income from oil
Ned:
*3.5 years ago, Bush took us to war, and Joe Lieberman cheered him on
*We need to provide all the resources al-Maliki needs
*Quoted Colin Powell that we must change course
*Quoted UK (equivalent of SOD) troops in Iraq are exacerbating the problem
*Iraqis must stand up and fight for their own country now

Rebut
Joe
*Cannot and will not stay forever
*Iraq has a reasonable prospect to survive with our help to build a free Iraq
*Must get together across party lines
Alan
*This is what happens when you run for VP and president -- you forget about your role as a Senator -- and that is to advice and consent
Ned
*We all read Joe's [using first names to go faster, Ned did not call him Joe] editorial that said we had to stay the course

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Kirby, we owe you big time!!!

Well, I'm glad Joe has finally put a timeline on when we can get out of iraq, but can't he offer something better than between "now and forever"?

Love Alan's point -- it's no longer a military answer, but a political one.

Glad Ned brought up Joe's editorial!

So did anyone remind Bob Schieffer -- the audience noise didn't matter because no one was allowed to see it live?