Sept. 26 Democratic debate transcript

Russert: Senator Dodd, you have heard this discussion.  Where do you come down?

Christopher Dodd: Well, Tim, the question is not just how you bring the troops out, but why are we there.  As president of the United States, your first responsibility is to guarantee the safety and security of the American people.

And so the question you must ask yourself as president: Is the continuation of our military presence enhancing that goal?

I happen to believe very strongly that this policy of ours, military involvement in Iraq, is counterproductive.  We're less safe, less secure, more vulnerable and more isolated today as a result of the policy.

So I believe that we ought to begin that process of redeployment here.  I would simultaneously engage in the kind of robust diplomacy that's been totally missing from this administration to enhance our own interests in the region as well as to provide some additional security for Iraq.

You can do this, Tim.  Practically it can be done by -- military planners can tell you you can move a brigade to a brigade and a half, maybe even two, a month out of Iraq.  So the timeframe we're talking about is critical.

But Congress has an obligation here.  It's not enough that we just draft timetables.  The Constitution gives the Congress of the United States a unique power, and that is the power of the purse.

As long as we continue drafting these lengthy resolutions and amendments here, talking about timelines and dates, we're not getting to the fundamental power that exists in the Congress; and that is to terminate the funding of this effort here -- give us a new direction.

As everyone who has looked at this issue over the last two or three years has concluded there is no military solution here.  And we need to do far more to protect our interests not only in that region, but throughout the world.  We're not doing it with this policy.

Russert: I want to put you on the record.  Will you pledge, as commander in chief, that you'll have all troops out of Iraq by January of 2013?

Dodd: I will get that done.

Russert: You'll get it done?

Dodd: Yes, I will, sir.

Russert: Senator Biden, would you get it done?

Joseph Biden: Tim, we're begging the question here.  Everyone says there's no political -- there's no military solution, only a political solution.  We offered a political solution today and it got 75 votes.

And it said -- it rejected, fundamentally, the president's position that there's a possibility of establishing a strong, central government in Iraq and said we're going to have a federal system, bring in the rest of the world to support establishing a federal system.

That will end the civil war.  That will allow us to bring our troops home.  That is the thing that will allow us to come home without leaving chaos behind.

Now, here's the deal.  The deal is to say that you are going to bring all troops home from the region -- I assume that's what you mean...

Russert: From Iraq.

Biden: Just from Iraq.  You're going to bring all troops home from Iraq -- if in fact there is no political solution by the time I am president, then I would bring them out, because all they are is fodder.

But if you go along with the Biden plan that got 75 votes today, and you have a stable Iraq, like we have in Bosnia -- we've had 20,000 Western troops in Bosnia for 10 years.  Not one has been killed.  Not one.  The genocide has ended.

So it would depend on the circumstances when I became president.

Russert: But you would not make a commitment to have them all out by...

Biden: I would make a commitment to have them all out if there is not a political reconciliation, because they're just fodder.

Russert: Congressman Kucinich, please?

Dennis Kucinich: And as the only one on this stage who actually voted against the war, and voted 100 percent of the time against funding the war, I have a rather unique perspective.

I've introduced legislation, H.R. 1234, which is the plan to end the Iraq war.  To me, it is fairly astonishing to have Democrats who took back the power of the House and the Senate in 2006 to stand on this stage and tell the American people that this war will continue to 2013 and perhaps past that.

I want everyone to know -- I want the American people to know -- that I've been on this from the beginning and I know that we can get out of there three months after I take office or after the new president takes office if one is determined to do that.

And I want to make it clear that the plan includes ending the occupation; closing the bases; bringing the troops home; setting in motion a program of reconciliation, not partition, between the Sunnis, the Shiites and the Kurds; having an honest reconstruction program; having a program of reparations; and giving the people of Iraq full control over their oil, which currently most of the people on this stage have said should be privatized in one way, shape or form.

And so I believe that if we're really going to have peace, no partition; let them unite.  We remember what Lincoln said years ago, it's true for Iraq as well: A house divided against itself cannot stand.  If we divide Iraq, essentially we're going to be setting the stage for more war, and I stand for strength through peace, a whole new approach.

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