Last updated on: 9/8/2016 11:09:19 AM PST
Should the US Have Attacked Iraq in 2003?
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Con (No)
Now Con
"I did make a mistake [by voting for the Iraq war in 2002] and I admitted that I made a mistake. And in large measure that mistake really arose from the Bush administration's approach to what they thought they could accomplish in Iraq.
The very explicit appeal that President Bush made before announcing the invasion that getting the vote would be a strong piece of leverage in order to finish the [weapons of mass destruction] inspections… I gave them the vote, in large measure, because I thought that would give us the time and we would find out [about WMDs], short of invasion. Turned out not to be. And I really regret that that's the way President Bush proceeded."
Source: CNN, "Democratic Town Hall: Transcript, Video," cnn.com, Feb. 4, 2016
[Editor's Note: Clinton previously expressed a PRO opinion on this question. Read Clinton's former position on the Iraq war.]
Con
"I was opposed to us going into Iraq from the beginning, I really thought that there was no threat to our national security, I really thought that if we went into Iraq we would find ourselves in a civil war to which there would be no end and I thought we had the military surveillance capability to see Iraq rollout any weapons of mass destruction and if they would have done that, we could have gone in and dealt with that… But that was 10 years ago, we're building roads, schools, bridges and highways in Iraq and Afghanistan and we're borrowing 43 cents out of every dollar to do that. In my opinion, this is crazy."
Source: Fox News, Republican presidential debate, May 5, 2011
Con
"We never should have been in Iraq. We have spent perhaps $1 trillion, lost nearly 5,000 American lives, and probably 100,000 or perhaps one million Iraqi lives. It's an unspeakable shame that this war occurred at all. A war caused by lies and military opportunism. A war that has conveniently secured some oil supplies for the US and the West but what a horrible price that has been paid for that illegitimate bounty."
Source: On The Issues, "Jill Stein on War & Peace," ontheissues.org, Dec. 21, 2011
Now Con
"I'm the only one on this stage that said, 'Do not go into Iraq. Do not attack Iraq.' Nobody else on this stage said that. And I said it loud and strong. And I was in the private sector. I wasn't a politician, fortunately.
But I said it, and I said it loud and clear, 'You'll destabilize the Middle East.' That's exactly what happened... Obviously, the war in Iraq was a big, fat mistake... The war in Iraq, we spent $2 trillion, thousands of lives... Obviously, it was a mistake...
George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East."
Source: Washington Post, "The CBS News Republican Debate Transcript, Annotated," washingtonpost.com, Feb. 13, 2016
[Editor's Note: Trump previously expressed a PRO opinion on this question. Read Trump's former position on the Iraq War.]
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FORMER CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear below in black and white and in alphabetical order.)
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None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 20, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Mar. 4, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 10, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on May 3, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 10, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Dec. 21, 2015; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 1, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on May 4, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 1, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Feb. 3, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Withdrew on Mar. 15, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate's position on this question.
None Found
Failed to win the Democratic nomination on July 26, 2016; no additional research done as of that date to determine candidate’s position on this question.
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