What the Senate candidates are saying on military issues
New Hampshire Senate candidates on Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan:
IRAQ
"During the next six months, our military command in Iraq should work to solidify the dramatic improvements in security achieved by United States soldiers over the past year, transfer more responsibility to the Iraqi Army, and encourage the Maliki government to pursue further political reconciliation and economic revitalization. Continuing progress in each of these areas will allow additional troops to return home this year, above and beyond the 26,300 that have been withdrawn since November of 2007." -- Republican Sen. John Sununu.
"The most meaningful, significant progress in Iraq is going to have to come from the Iraqis themselves. Our men and women in uniform have performed exceptionally and have done all that has been asked of them. But the next steps toward progress in Iraq are largely internal, with help from Iraq's immediate neighbors. A permanent American troop presence in Iraq, as the Republicans advocate, will only deepen Iraqi dependence and continue diverting American attention from our primary threat from al-Qaida in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region." -- Democrat Jeanne Shaheen.
"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations. Entangling alliances with none. Get the U.S. Forces out of Iraq." -- Republican Tom Alciere.
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IRAN
"As a United States Senator, I would never make a commitment to support the use of military force without fully assessing the conditions and actions that led to such a recommendation. ... In the immediate future, the United States should work aggressively with our European allies to implement strong and effective sanctions against both Iran and those who support activities related to or benefiting their nuclear program." -- Sununu.
"Rather than simply saber rattling, I believe that we are stronger when we negotiate with our enemies from a position of strength and when we engage the international community. We should begin direct, hard-nosed diplomatic talks with Iran, in concert with our European allies. ... And as the fragile Iranian economy continues to struggle, economic leverage -- both carrots and sticks -- should continue to be one of the most powerful tools available to us." -- Shaheen.
"If Iran attacks the United States that requires a full retaliatory response." -- Alciere
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AFGHANISTAN
"All of our NATO allies must recognize the critical strategic importance of denying terrorists a safe haven in Afghanistan. I believe that agreements to strengthen the ISAF Forces can and will be implemented without imposing sanctions or other restrictions on bilateral relations. Further progress can be made in our effort to isolate and defeat Taliban and al-Qaida elements by making better use of the counterinsurgency tactics employed successfully in Iraq." -- Sununu.
"We need to focus our efforts where the threat to our security is greatest and to do that, we need to redeploy our troops out of Iraq so that we have the resources to put troops into Afghanistan. The Bush administration's attempts to bully others into supporting our agenda has not proven an effective foreign policy tool. ... We should use a range of tools available to us, including economic leverage and smarter, more aggressive diplomacy, to build consensus for putting additional allied troops into Afghanistan." -- Shaheen.
"The U.S. should fight the creeps behind the 9/11 attacks but I am not convinced they are in Afghanistan." -- Alciere.
