Today's issue is when there should no longer be a substantial American military presence in Iraq, and what the candidates think about it.
John McCain stated today that he feels there will no longer be a substantial presence in Iraq after 2003. At that point he believes all threats to the United States and the region will be squelched.
Hillary Clinton would
support the appointment of a high level U.N. representative -- similar to those appointed in Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Kosovo -- to help broker peace among the parties in Iraq.Further, this high-level representative will convince all neighboring countires to leave Iraq alone, produce peace among the various groups in Iraq, and convince middle eastern nations to pick up the tab for his or her efforts.
Barack Obama states he would have all combat troops redeployed from Iraq within 11 months of taking office. However, he voted against S.Amdt. 4442 to S. 2766 which would have effectively done that. He says that he would establish a long-term goal of having "regional cooperation" which would increase regional stability. He would mitigate the short-term choas by being
a tough negotiator with Syria and Iran, sending a clear message that they need to stop meddling in Iraq’s affairs.
All three of these seem somewhat idealistic to me. I would willing put John McCain's reasoning in blockquote if I could find it. However, it isn't there and I have no idea why he thinks all will be resolved in four years. The basic difference between HRC's and BHO's plans are the identity of the master negotiater who will end all of the region's problems. HRC doesn't seem to know, but feels that someone at the United Nations could do the job. Her reasoning seems to be that this worked in Afganistan, Bosnia and Kosovo - I guess expecting a different result from those situations isn't too outrageuos (only Bosnia is presently stable). BHO thinks that he is the "tough negotiator" who could make things happen. I am unable to find any source that believes he is a tough negotiator outside of his own websites and others which quote his.