Democrats

Tim Carpenter:  The new Bush doctrine holding that the United States can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening us – but might be threatening to us in the future – is radical and troubling. In world with perfect intelligence one could argue that the doctrine might have merit. But he fact that we went to Iraq based upon the Administration’s warnings built upon intelligence reports that were unverified, unconfirmed, and inaccurate should make us all question whether this doctrine is, or can be used consistent with the values that have made our nation great. We may have the world’s best military, but we cannot fight a global war on terrorism without the cooperation and friendship of our time-honored allies. Therefore, the Bush administration’s unwise squandering of world-wide goodwill, trust and support following the horror of 9/11 has damaged our nation’s ability to pursue the war on terrorism. Such a fight needs a leader and leadership team that we can trust to look out for the security and long term interests of this country, and the Bush administration has sadly proved to not have this quality and character.

Matt Flynn: I believe that George Bush misled the American people to enter into that action in the first place. The war is misguided and wrong. As a Navy veteran, I am concerned about the men and women in our armed forces who are fighting and dying with no clear mission and no clear exit strategy. I do think it important to support our troops in Iraq to protect them. I am also concerned that we take steps to prevent genocidal conflict among tribal factions in Iraq as we withdraw. I think the best policy at this point is (a) to throw Bush out of office, and (b) turn over control of Iraq to a broad coalition of countries who will, in turn, transition Iraq to a coalition government that can rebuild and stabilize that country. What George Bush has done is to spend hundreds of billions of dollars in Iraq that he has bled out of our economy, to divert attention from his slow destruction of our economy. I believe that he has acted dishonestly and should be removed from office for that reason.

Gwen Moore: I oppose the military action in Iraq, which was based on false intelligence and has cost billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. In Wisconsin, taxpayers will pay nearly $2.6 billion for the cost of the war in Iraq. Yet the even greater cost of this war is that of the lives of soldiers. I’ve had to look into the faces of mothers whose children have returned in body bags and it is heart breaking emotionally and psychologically. This is an unjust war that hurts spiritually, economically and emotionally. We must implement an exit strategy for our troops that does not compromise the security of the Iraqi people but also does not prolong U.S. involvement. We must also work to restore the international community’s faith and confidence in the United States as an agent of peace.

Constitution Party

Colin Hudson could not be reached.

 

Read about the candidates' positions on

Water Diversion

Freeway Expansion

Budget Priorities

The Patriot Act

The Bush Tax Cuts

What we're doing: storyhill.net and the Riverwest Currents newspaper asked 4th Congressional District candidates to respond to questions about issues relevant to Milwaukee-area voters.

Eight candidates are competing to replace Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerald D. Kleczka, who is not seeking re-election. The 4th District includes all of Milwaukee, Cudahy, St. Francis, South Milwaukee, West Milwaukee and part of West Allis.

The questions and candidates' answers will be carried on the storyhill.net web site and in the Riverwest Currents newspaper.There will be Republican and Democratic primaries Sept. 14. The general election is Nov. 2.