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MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “FRANKEN: HE WAS FOR THE WAR BEFORE HE WAS AGAINST THE WAR; FRANKEN HOPES TO CONFUSE DFL DELEGATES IN RUN UP TO ENDORSEMENT CONVENTION”
By Michael B. Brodkorb | October 22, 2007
This is a long press release, but I consider it a must read. Franken's position on the war in Iraq is very confusing, but the Republican Party of Minnesota has documented his flips and flops
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"Al Franken has taken cynicism to new heights in his effort to win the DFL endorsement for the U.S. Senate. It isn't bad enough that he wants to try to mislead Minnesotans about Norm Coleman's record. Now he wants to act as though he never did support the war.
"It's one thing to change your mind. But to blatantly try to deny that you supported the war in order to win an endorsement is not only shameful, but clearly part of a pattern of deceitful behavior on the part of Al Franken." – Ron Carey, Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman
Today's Star Tribune Reported On Franken's Ever Shifting Position On The War In Iraq
"DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken has become known for his blistering criticism of the Iraq war. What is less well known is that the satirist-turned-candidate is a relatively recent convert to the conviction that the U.S. should immediately pull out of Iraq." (Patricia Lopez, "Franken's War Stance Has Edged To The Left," Star Tribune, October 22, 2007)
"Franken says he now wholeheartedly endorses U.S. withdrawal, telling an audience at a September debate that ‘I am for starting to leave now.'" (Patricia Lopez, "Franken's War Stance Has Edged To The Left," Star Tribune, October 22, 2007)
"In a May 2006 radio interview, Franken said, 'I think I would have voted for the use of force because I would have believed Colin Powell.' Asked during his interview with the Star Tribune why he would have done so, given that his friend and mentor Sen. Paul Wellstone cast one of the few votes against it, Franken said: 'I wrestled with it and I didn't 100 percent say we gotta go to war. I would have voted for the resolution to get the weapons inspectors in … [T]he president said it was a vote for peace, not a vote for war.'" (Patricia Lopez, "Franken's War Stance Has Edged To The Left," Star Tribune, October 22, 2007)
Ciresi On Franken: "You Can't, As A United States Senator, Just Sit There And Wring Your Hands For Five Years And Say, 'This Could Happen, That Could Happen. I Don't Know What To Do.'" (Patricia Lopez, "Franken's War Stance Has Edged To The Left," Star Tribune, October 22, 2007)
Ciresi: "He Has Said He Let Fear Cloud His Judgment. To My Mind, That Calls Into Question His Qualifications To Be A U.S. Senator." (Patricia Lopez, "Franken's War Stance Has Edged To The Left," Star Tribune, October 22, 2007)
Franken On Withdrawal From Iraq: The Record
2004
Franken: "Our Military Is In Iraq Now And Will Be There For A Long Time. We Have No Choice." (Al Franken, Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them, 2004, p. 377)
Franken: "In Reality, The War Is Costing Us A Billion Dollars A Week. And We Will Have To Be There For Years." (Al Franken, Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them, 2004, p. 378)
2005
Franken Does Not Support A Troop Withdrawal. "Franken does nuance. Unlike many on the political left, he does not support a set troop withdrawal date in Iraq. He would have voted for NAFTA." (David Paul Kuh, "Senator Franken?" Salon.com, April 28, 2005)
2006
Franken: "I'm Not For Pulling Out Of Iraq Right Now." "PLAYBOY: Yet you don't advocate a quick withdrawal from Iraq." FRANKEN: "I'm not for pulling out of Iraq right now. I don't know if I'm right on that. The stakes are so high because of the tremendous carnage, not just to our soldiers and Marines but also to the people of Iraq.” (Warren Kalbacker, "Playboy Interview: Al Franken," Playboy, February 1, 2006)
Franken: "I Wouldn't Pull Out And Run." "RUSSERT: What would you do?" Mr. FRANKEN: "I wouldn't–I wouldn't pull out and run. I would–but I am very concerned. I've been there a number of times…” (Transcript, "Tim Russert," CNBC, April 1, 2006)
2007
February: Franken Says U.S. Needs To Redeploy Troops Outside Of Baghdad, But Still Be In Iraq. "Senator Coleman has said that we don’t want 17,500 new troops- of these troops- to go into the crosshairs of sectarian violence. Well, why should the other 24,000 American troops that are in Baghdad now be in the crosshairs of sectarian violence? They should be redeployed to bases outside- to Camp Victory, which I’ve been at 4 times." ("Midday,"Minnesota Public Radio, February 15, 2007)
July: Franken Says, "If We Aren’t Accomplishing Anything Militarily, We Should Not Be There…" "And even though the election is more than a year away, Franken says Iraq is a viable campaign issue now. Benchmarks to the Iraqi government are needed that it devise a fair plan to share oil revenues and a reconciliation process be put in place to defuse sectarian tensions. And a 'soft partition' may be needed with a loose central government and separate provisions for Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites. 'It shouldn’t be partisan,' Franken said. 'It should be about getting our troops out of there as quickly and as responsibly as possible. If we aren’t accomplishing anything militarily, we should not be there so the Shiite government can consolidate its power, so when we finally do leave it can persecute the Sunnis the way the Sunnis persecuted them under Saddam. That is not why our men and women should be dying and getting traumatic brain injury and losing limbs,’ he said." (Brad Swenson, "Franken Travels State To Meet Voters,” Bemidji Pioneer, July 7, 2007)
July: Franken Calls For Troop Withdrawal. "An antiwar surge targeting Sen. Norm Coleman continued Tuesday as DFL hopefuls Al Franken and Mike Ciresi pressed the Republican to break with President Bush on the war in Iraq. While both decry Bush's policies, subtle differences are evident in the DFLers' approach. Ciresi is pushing for withdrawal of combat troops by March, while Franken says troop withdrawal should begin as soon as possible, but could conclude sometime in the middle of next year. … Ciresi and Franken said that while they support a quick end to combat, the United States will need to redeploy some troops to neighboring countries, such as Kuwait or Jordan, to protect vital U.S. interests. Both support an international conference that would include Syria and Iran, to work on longer-range solutions to the region's violence." (Patricia Lopez, "DFLers Put Pressure On Sen. Coleman," Star Tribune, July 11, 2007)
July: Franken Said He "Wasn't Sure He Was Comfortable With The April 30" Withdrawal Deadline. "Franken said he wasn't sure he was comfortable with the April 30 date proposed by some congressional Democrats. 'We need to put a lot of thought and planning into how we get out. We need to put more thought into how we get out than they (the Bush administration) put into how we went in. … The first thing we need to do is make a commitment to leaving.'" (Patricia Lopez, "DFLers Put Pressure On Sen. Coleman," Star Tribune, July 11, 2007)
One Week Later … July 17, 2007: Franken Tells DFLers He Wants To "Hold" Senator Coleman Accountable For Voting Against "Reed-Levin." "Now tonight is an important night in Washington because they're debating Reed-Levin and this is a bill that will finally start to get out troops out of Iraq and Senator Coleman is going to block it along with a minority of the Senate. But they're going to filibuster it. And I'm assuming that if Norm Coleman votes to keep our troops there indefinitely as the President want, it won't surprise me but I'm going to hold him accountable. Because that's not what the people of Minnesota want." (Transcript, Brown County DFL Picnic, July 17, 2007)
- Levin-Reed Amendment Would Begin Troop Pullout Within Four Months, And Most Would Leave By April 30, 2008. "Assuming neither side blinks, the Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the Democratic amendment, offered by Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl M. Levin (Mich.) and Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.). It would require Bush to begin reducing the number of U.S. troops in Iraq within four months, while reassigning remaining forces to specific missions, including the training of Iraqi security forces and counterterrorism operations. Under the proposal, most U.S. troops would leave Iraq by April 30, 2008." (Shailagh Murray, "Democrats Maneuver To Force Iraq Votes," Washington Post, July 17, 2007)
August: Franken Maintains, "I Would Have Voted For Levin-Reed And I Think That We Have To Redeploy Our Troops, Some To Afghanistan, Some To Kuwait And Get Everyone Home. And Norm Coleman Voted Against That." ("Almanac," TPT, August 24, 2007)
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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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One Response to “MN GOP PRESS RELEASE: “FRANKEN: HE WAS FOR THE WAR BEFORE HE WAS AGAINST THE WAR; FRANKEN HOPES TO CONFUSE DFL DELEGATES IN RUN UP TO ENDORSEMENT CONVENTION””
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October 22nd, 2007 at 4:21 PM
“The president said it was a vote for peace, not a vote for war”-
These Dems are unbelievable- “Bush is stupid moron, but we would have followed him where he told us to go”
They’re disgraceful- completely lacking any moral compass of their own.