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MDE FROM THE ARCHIVES: FRANKEN SUPPORTED DECISION TO GO TO WAR IN IRAQ; SAID “WE OWE IT TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE TO NOT” JUST LEAVE
By Michael Brodkorb | July 10, 2007
This is the first post in a series I like to call "What Every Democrat Needs to Know About Al Franken." Please check back to Minnesota Democrats Exposed for more information about Franken's pro-Iraq war positions.
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Franken "Believed Colin Powell" And Supported Decision To Go To War
"FRANKEN: Well, I think he was at least telling, you know, what he thought was true. And I think it depends what you mean by winning the war. Are we going to do what we said we were going to do when we first went there, and set up a Jeffersonian democracy? No. That`s just not going to happen. When the president said nothing short of complete victory, I am not sure what that means. Howard Dean actually kind of was right. He was against our going in. I think it was a mistake. I was wrong. At the time, I believed Colin Powell. I believed that the presumption that the president is telling you the truth, so I thought I guess we have to go to war. It turns out that we were misled into the war, and not only that, but that, since then, the war has been badly bungled because of hubris, unwillingness to admit mistakes. And we find ourselves in a situation where many, many smart people believe that our very presence there makes things worse. I don`t — and I think it`s very hard to trust this administration in anything they say about the war." Source: Transcript, "Scarborough Country," MSNBC, December 7, 2005
Al Franken: "We Owe It To The Iraq People To Not" Just Leave
"Al Franken: With the war in Iraq, there's so much uncertainty and complexity to where we are right now. You can look back and say we were lied into the war, and there was no planning for an aftermath of the war, or the planning that was done was willfully ignored by the Administration. Now, I think that withdrawing immediately would be a perfectly bad ending to a perfectly badly done bad war. You do have to respect Murtha. His view is that our being there just makes things worse, and we've just got to get out of there, and get out of there as quickly as we can, in six months or something like that. Others of us believe that we can't do that – that we have created the situation. We find ourselves in a no-win situation, but if we just left, it could descend into total chaos, which it's pretty close to now. I mean real civil war. And that's irresponsible. We owe it to the Iraqi people not to do that. There is so much that's uncertain about it that, I think anyone who's honest about it doesn’t have the answer. We've been put in a no-win situation." Source: Online Interview, BuzzFlash Interviews, March 8, 2006
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This post also appears on Blogs for Norm!, an online community and blog covering the 2008 U.S. Senate campaign in Minnesota. The primary goal of Blogs for Norm! is to organize bloggers who support U.S. Senator Norm Coleman.
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16 Responses to “MDE FROM THE ARCHIVES: FRANKEN SUPPORTED DECISION TO GO TO WAR IN IRAQ; SAID “WE OWE IT TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE TO NOT” JUST LEAVE”
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July 10th, 2007 at 10:20 AM
It seems like both of these things puts him square in line with most Americans’ beliefs. Most Americans did believe Colin Powell and most Americans don’t want to leave the Iraqis but will if there’s no way to win this war.
Seems like he’s more in touch with Minnesotans than Coleman on this issue.
July 10th, 2007 at 11:45 AM
Actually, Franken’s past position is pretty much exactly the same as Norm’s past and present position.
It’s the contrast Johnny… Like most lying, coward liberals, Franken’s position is blowing in the political winds. And like most lying coward Democrats, today’s Franken is more interested in cutting off funds for our soldiers in the field, absolute surrender to Islamists, and destroying any chance Iraqis have at living free.
July 10th, 2007 at 12:44 PM
typical finger in the air liberal point of view. when it’s going well(e.g. popular) be for it. when it’s not going well (e.g. unpopular) be agaist it. This is just the same surrender monkey attitude of the Dems in the Senate. I wouldn’t trust a thing they said if they made me king of the world.
July 10th, 2007 at 2:32 PM
[...] Below is a video clip of Al Franken on “Scarborough Country” talking about his support of the war in Iraq. I posted the transcript earlier today. [...]
July 10th, 2007 at 4:24 PM
I’m not sure you can really talk about opinions changing with the wind. I mean Coleman did used to be a liberal anti-war Democrat.
Also, Franken’s opinion on Iraq changed the same way the American people’s opinion has changed…you gonna call all of them cowards too?
If a small percentage of people have never changed their opinion at all, who’s the out-of-touch ones?
July 10th, 2007 at 8:46 PM
Johnny, that’s a novel view of history. Norm, when a DFLer was always moderate/conservative. He was opposed to the Vietnam war, but that about it.
On the first Gulf War, Coleman said this about Paul Wellstone: “”The senator was wrong, wrong, wrong in the first Gulf War when he opposed U.S. involvement and opposed going after Saddam Hussein. We should have gone after him then. That was a mistake,” Coleman said.”
So calling him a liberal anti-war Democrat is more than just a stretch of your imagination.
Most Americans DO NOT support cutting off funding for our soldiers. Al Franken does. So yes, I call Al Franken a gutless coward.
Democrats, every lying, crooked, chicken-shit one of them, disgust me.
July 11th, 2007 at 10:10 AM
[...] Al Franken initially supported the war in Iraq, while Ciresi did not support sending American troops to Iraq. [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 10:11 AM
[...] Below is a video clip of Al Franken on “Scarborough Country” talking about his support of the war in Iraq. I posted the transcript earlier today. [...]
July 11th, 2007 at 10:19 AM
[...] Al Franken initially supported the war in Iraq, while Ciresi did not support sending American troops to Iraq. [...]
August 16th, 2007 at 11:44 AM
[...] I first wrote about Franken's support of the war in Iraq over a month ago. [...]
August 16th, 2007 at 11:57 AM
[...] I first wrote about Franken's support of the war in Iraq over a month ago. Click here for more information on Franken's flip-flop on the war in Iraq. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 5:20 PM
[...] I first wrote about Franken's support of the war in Iraq over a month ago. Click here for more information on Franken's flip-flop on the war in Iraq. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 5:27 PM
[...] I first wrote about Franken's support of the war in Iraq over a month ago. Click here for more information on Franken's flip-flop on the war in Iraq. [...]
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:14 PM
[...] It has been well document on Minnesota Democrats Exposed that Al Franken supported the war in Iraq. The Star Tribune reported that Franken "counts himself among those who originally supported the war" in Iraq: "[Al] Franken counts himself among those who originally supported the war but changed over time. 'I was torn,' Franken said. 'I didn't think a president would lie us into war.' Even at the end of 2003, Franken said the United States should increase troop strength to provide some stability to the country." Source: Star Tribune, July 10, 2007 [...]
September 2nd, 2007 at 5:18 PM
[...] It has been well documented on Minnesota Democrats Exposed that Al Franken supported the war in Iraq. The Star Tribune reported that Franken "counts himself among those who originally supported the war" in Iraq: "[Al] Franken counts himself among those who originally supported the war but changed over time. 'I was torn,' Franken said. 'I didn't think a president would lie us into war.' Even at the end of 2003, Franken said the United States should increase troop strength to provide some stability to the country." Source: Star Tribune, July 10, 2007 [...]
September 12th, 2007 at 9:34 AM
[...] I first wrote about Al Franken's support for the Iraq war back in July. Now Eric Black has written an extensive article examining Franken's support of the war in Iraq. [...]