NY-26: Jon Powers and His Multiple Positions on Iraq
by Matt at May 22nd, 2008
In reviewing past statements by Jon Powers about Iraq, I find myself confused and unsure just what his position on Iraq is. Back in 2005, likely well before he considered running for Congress, he said the following in an interview with the BBC:
“We talk about exit strategies, we talk about pulling out, I think it is more important that we talk about setting objectives that are attainable so that the soldiers know what they are doing there… Talk about pulling out after you have set those goals and then guys will feel like they have accomplished something, not just spent 14 months of their lives and lost their friends.”
And he’s also called for a far more reasonable and balanced approach than his fellow Democrats currently in Congress.
Right now the debate in Washington right now is wrong. It’s Stay the Course 2.0 or withdrawal. Neither of those are solutions.
So, once he set his sights on Congress, his position started to more closely resemble the cut-and-run strategy of the Democratic Party. In a blog entry at the liberal Huffington Post a year ago, he advocated President Bush sign the war-funding bill that would establish immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
You have the opportunity to sign Congress’s bill which provides your own funding requests, your own milestones, and a timetable to force the hand of Iraq’s leaders. The American people support this timetable, the troops support this timetable, Iraq’s leaders support this timetable, and Congress has approved this timetable. It is time to get on board.
Mr. President, this is not a time to expand our military involvement in this war. This bill gives you a reasonable way to de-escalate our troop’s involvement and push the Iraqi leadership into the social, economic, and political solutions needed to bring stability to the people of the region.
In January of last year as well, Powers was calling for an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.
It is time for this new Congress to fulfill the promises they made during this past election that was so commonly referred to as “a referendum on the war in Iraq”. It is time for our leaders to make the tough decisions that have to be made.
What I would like to know is does Jon Powers support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, or does he favor a more reasonable and balanced approach. If the latter, then when is he going to speak out against the Democrats in Congress who are calling for an immediate withdrawal?
I’m not counting on it. Powers appears to have gone from an independent thinker to just another Democrat regurgitating DNC talking points.
You are forgetting that the war in 2005 was much different than the drawn out quagmire of 2008. Powers, like all reasonable people, adjusts his assessments of situations as the circumstances warrant. Powers has called for a return of our soldiers from Iraq “safely, securely and soon.” I interpret that to mean not an immediate unsafe withdrawal but instead a planned withdrawal and renewed focus on stabilizing Iraq via diplomatic and socio-economic means.