Allen, Webb Quarrel Over War in Iraq, Bush Policies
2006-09-18
Source: Washington Post
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rss feedVirginia's U.S. Senate candidates clashed on national television yesterday over the war in Iraq and President Bush's leadership, offering the sharpest contrast yet in a campaign that has become central to the partisan struggle for control of Congress this fall.
Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger James Webb also confronted issues of race and gender and debated the use of torture in the war on terror. But the exchange largely centered on a controversial war that has become the defining issue of the Nov. 7 midterm elections.
Webb, a decorated Marine and former Navy Secretary, called the Iraq war an "incredible strategic blunder of historic proportions" and said he has lost confidence in Bush's foreign policy. He repeatedly reminded viewers that neither Bush nor Allen, a former governor, had served in combat.
"Very few people who have brought us this war have served, and very, very few of the children of these people who have brought us this war have served," said Webb, whose Marine son began a tour in Iraq this month.
Allen steadfastly defended Bush's Middle East policies, telling moderator Tim Russert that "staying the course" in Iraq means "that we don't tuck tail and run, that we don't retreat, that we don't surrender." Asked whether more U.S. troops should be sent, Allen said, "We're going to need to do what it takes to succeed."
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