Iraq Differences Continue to Define US Presidential Race (1/3)





The differing views on Iraq between the president and congressional Democrats are also being reflected daily on the presidential campaign trail.

The Democratic presidential contenders support various troop withdrawal proposals that would force a redeployment of U.S. forces out of Iraq next year.

Anti-war rhetoric " class="hjdict" word="rhetoric " target=_blank>rhetoric dominated the speeches of several Democratic candidates who recently addressed a convention of construction union workers in Washington.
Among them was Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this war must end. This war must end and it must end soon!"
At times, Democrats compete with each other to see which candidate has opposed the war the longest.

This is Illinois Senator Barack of Obama."I am proud of the fact that in 2002, I stood up and said this is a bad idea, that this is a war that should not have been authorized and should not have been waged." Obama is running second in the polls to New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Clinton supports a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq but so far has refused to say her vote authorizing the war in 2002 was a mistake, unlike some of her Democratic rivals.