On Monday, I asked members of Congress in Missouri and those running for the position if they would comment on the recent dustup between Barack Obama and John McCain over Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s support for Obama’s withdrawal plan.
The first two responses are in. Byron DeLear was not surprisingly first to comment, doing so (bonus points!) in a long comment here on the blog. Money quote:
We must reverse Bush and Akin’s policy in Iraq, send a message to the Iraqi government that we don’t intend on occupying their country permanently, and begin an immediate and responsible “phased withdrawal” of our troops.
This means systematically redeploying those troops, bringing our national guard troops home, and reengaging the international community, including the UN into a peace-keeping role.Most candidates like to discuss these issues as if they were running for Commander-in-Chief, that is, ‘here is my plan for Iraq’ — or — ‘this is my 10 year road map for the Iraq War’, etc.
And although there may be value in unpacking the ‘big picture’ here from an academic perspective, or just from a conversational one, as a Federal legislator for MO-2, I will be just one of 435 votes in the US House.
A progressive vote.
And Lyndon Bode, a relatively conservative Democratic candidate for the 9th Congressional District, chimes in via e-mail:
Yes – I would support the withdrawal of troops with the request of Iraq government officials saying they are ready to take charge. Therefore if they support Obama’s plan then I support the plan. I believe this has been the goal from the start. A free Iraq country and government.
We’ll keep posting responses as we get them.