The candidates on Iraq

George W. Bush

President Bush maintains Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States, because he supported terrorism and had the capability to produce banned weapons.

He said a free Iraq is essential to American security. He said he will train Iraqi soldiers and security forces to replace the U.S.-led coalition presence. He said he wants to use Iraq as an example of a working democracy in the Middle East.

His administration will continue to defend America by fighting terrorists abroad, so America does not have to face the consequences of the terrorists' actions on U.S. soil, Bush said.

John Kerry

Democratic Sen. John Kerry said he wants to change the direction taken by the Bush administration in Iraq.

He said the United States must regain the trust of allies to take the burden off American troops. According to the Kerry Web site, he wants to persuade NATO to make Iraq security one of its global missions and deploy a portion of the force needed to secure and win the peace in Iraq.

To do this, he said a summit with all world leaders will be needed, as well as letting other countries bid on reconstruction contracts.

Kerry said it is important to the success in Iraq to train Iraqi forces and design and implement a reconstruction program beneficial to the Iraqi people.

David Cobb

The United States must announce a date for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq and do it, Cobb said.

The war in Iraq is illegal and based on lies and motivated by control, profit and resources, he said. The United States must reverse its project to establish permanent military bases in Iraq and use Defense Department money to pay reparations for the destruction U.S. forces are responsible for, he said.

Elections should be held with United Nations oversightˇto replace the U.S.-installed government headed by Iyad Allawi, he said. Once elected, the new government should have full national sovereignty and all prior U.S. injunctions should be annulled, Cobb said.

Michael Badnarik

"The war in Iraq is a failure, and the U.S. government should never have waged it," Michael Badnarik, Libertarian candidate, stated on his Web site. He said he would bring troops home as soon as possible.

Badnarik sees this war as a chance for the United States to force its ideas of freedom on the people of Iraq and said that is why the people in Middle East tend to dislike America.

"The U.S. government has meddled in the affairs of the Middle East far too long, always with horrendous results," he said.

The real issue, he said, is finding out why the war was waged in the first place to prevent it from happening again.

"In short, a libertarian foreign policy is one of national defense, and not international offense," he said. "It would protect our country, not police the world."

Michael Peroutka

Peroutka is opposed to using American forces for foreign intervention because he said the Constitution does not advise the president to do so.

He rejects the president's commitment to bring democracy to the Middle East and the war in Iraq, because Iraq was not a threat to national security. Peroutka said he would withdraw all American forces from Iraq.

Ralph Nader

The United States should set a firm date for withdrawal of U.S. military and corporate forces in Iraq and withdraw completely over a six-month period, Ralph Nader said.

Neutral, Arabic-speaking countries should send peacekeepers, and the United Nations should oversee elections to replace the interim Iraqi government, he said. Humanitarian aid should also be increased to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, Nader said.