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Who are the Peace Candidates?
The Iraq occupation
will continue to be an issue throughout the presidential campaign. The peace movement has already impacted
the debate and will continue to do through throughout
2008.
On the Democratic side the two
remaining candidates, Senator Clinton and Obama are both calling for beginning
the withdrawal of troops promptly after their inauguration. Obama originally opposed the war but was
not in the Senate at the time of the invasion. Clinton supported the resolution for use of
force but says she did so to encourage negotiation. Both have voted to provide funding for
the occupation.
The remaining Republicans, Senator
McCain and former governors Romney and Huckabee supported the military attack on
Iraq and are calling for continuation
of the occupation. Rep. Ron Paul continues to advocate a
complete withdrawal from Iraq.
The leading Green Party nominee, Cynthia McKinney, calls for a complete
withdrawal from Iraq as do all Green Party candidates. The Green Party opposes
militarism as the primary instrument of U.S. foreign policy. And the leading
Libertarian candidates, Steve Kubby, Chrine Smith and George Phillies also favor
withdrawal from Iraq. The Libertarian Party opposes U.S. military intervention
unless the United States is attacked.
It
is important to look beyond the rhetoric of a candidate and look at
their record. If the candidate is an incumbent, has he or she voted
against the authorization for the use of force in Iraq? Have they
voted against funding the war? Have they voted for bills or
amendments that call for a rapid and safe withdrawal of all
troops? Many of the bills being put forward as ending the war in
fact extend the war by withdrawing only some troops, usually combat
troops, and even with combat troops leaving very broad exceptions to
fight terrorists, al Qaeda, protect U.S. interests, train Iraqi
soldiers or protect Iraqi borders. Voting for this type of bill and
claiming to be a peace candidate shows no real intent to end the war.
If
the candidate in question is not an incumbent, then you need to
examine whether they have been involved in any efforts to end the
war. And their statements on the war need to be closely examined to
ensure that they are serious about ending the occupation and
preventing a war with Iran or other countries. Also, do they support
expanding the military or recognize that spending half of federal
discretionary spending on the war undercuts U.S. security. We
suggest you use the candidate questionnaire as a barometer of the candidate�s real willingness to
put peace first.
VotersForPeace is joining with other organizations participating in the
Grassroots Netroots Alliance (GNA). The GNA is a new nationwide
effort to build up a radical netroots and grassroots army of millions
of voters and activists. GNA believes that America's life or death,
multi-faceted Crisis demands that we move beyond watered down,
single-issue campaigns and limited focus campaigning to a
comprehensive multi-issue platform that stimulates local alliance
building and grassroots action, focused on pressuring the
politicians, and supporting candidates and legislation that can move
us out of the Crisis.
Voters for Peace is a non-profit educational organization and does not endorse candidates for office. Below are links to each of the candidates websites and links to articles written about their views on Iraq and militarism.
click on candidates name to discuss a specific candidate
DISCUSS: SENATE CANDIDATES | HOUSE CANDIDATES | PEACE VOTER STRATEGY
CLICK ON PARTY NAME TO VIEW ITS CANDIDATES |
Don J. Grundmann truthusa.org Grundmann's recommended foreign policy articles |
Hillary Clinton hillaryclinton.com > |
Mike Gravel Finally, a Populist Antiwar Candidate |
Barack Obama Barack Obama on Diplomacy Transcript: Obama at AIPAC Policy Forum Meet Obama's Foreign Policy Advisors |
Steve Kubby kubby2008.com Q&A; With Steve Kubby: Foreign Policy |
George Phillies A New Kind of President |
Christine Smith Christine Smith for President Blog |
DISCLAIMER: Voters for Peace does not endorse candidates and is providing these web pages as a forum for voters to express their views. The views expressed do not represent the position of Voters for Peace.
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