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07 March 2008
Election 2008 Issues -- Iraq
Podcast examines the effect of the war in Iraq on the 2008 U.S. election
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As the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq approaches, U.S. presidential candidates are entering into the final phases of primary season, which will decide who will represent the Republican and Democratic parties in November’s general election. In the past year, the war in Iraq has been one of the main issues on voters’ minds.
The current debate on Iraq is taking place as the Bush administration continues its “New Way Forward” strategy, announced by the president a year ago. The strategy called for a surge of additional troops into Iraq to protect citizens from terrorists and insurgents, and the expansion of civilian-led reconstruction teams to ensure military progress is followed up with real improvements in the lives of Iraqis. Although the administration has been heavily criticized for its conduct of the war, the new strategy has shown positive results, with levels of violence dropping in many parts of the country.
The Republican and Democratic presidential candidates have sharply divergent views on the way forward. Democrat Hillary Clinton says she would like to have all troops out of Iraq by the end of her first term. She also advocates benchmarks for the Iraqi government, with real consequences if it fails to meet them. Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Senator Barack Obama, was an early critic of the Iraq war. He would withdraw combat troops at the rate of one to two brigades per month, and pursue a security compact with Iraq's neighbors, and he seeks to convene a constitutional convention in Iraq to achieve political reconciliation. In contrast, Republican Senator John McCain wants a greater military commitment to achieve long-term success in Iraq. He says there are not enough American forces to provide security, rebuild local institutions, and train the Iraqi army.
The war in Iraq has made U.S. foreign policy a large influence on voters’ decisions. A candidate’s positions on how he or she would work with the international community could be a deciding factor in the election. The growing importance of foreign policy issues comes at a time when the American electorate is the most polarized in recent history. Voters disagree on how to interact with the world -- whether to pursue policies unilaterally or through multilateral means, and when to use armed force or diplomacy as a foreign policy tool.
Recently, the American economy has moved up the list of concerns for voters. Recent polls indicate that more than half of Americans consider the economy and health care as their top issues. But the course of the war in Iraq, and events related to larger foreign policy issues and national security, continue to play a large role in the campaign.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
