2012 Republican Presidential Candidates on Iraq

Our successful, if not a little questionable and not to mention widely perceived to be illegal, toppling of Saddam Hussein and liberation of Iraq in 2003 were followed by a spectacularly unsuccessful, and much more questionable, attempt at finding Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. Following the euphoric celebrations of freeing a country from an oppressive dictatorship, more than seven years later, we are still deeply mired in Iraq.

With over 650 billion spent since then, our 50,000 remaining troops there is still massively taxing our ailing economy, and despite several assurances, withdrawal of our forces from there is still not a feasible option, as the young democracy of Iraq is still dependent on us to maintain a semblance of order in the country. A sudden departure by our troops will create a vacuum that will quickly be filled with militias and more worryingly, the Al-Qaeda. An exit strategy is needed badly, and the candidate with a credible withdrawal plan can expect to score some massive plus points with the American public.

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2012 Presidential Candidates on Twitter

Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate
Former Speaker of the House

Newt Gingrich

Gingrich Position on Iraq

• Newt Gingrich believes that setting a deadline for troop withdrawal in Iraq is recipe for defeat. That a planned withdrawal will encourage terrorists and they will only follow us home.

• He thinks our policy in Iraq is a mess. Let the Iraqis win their own civil wars - if they really want to be free they will do it without us.

• Iran and Syria are enemies. We should talk with them but remember that they will always work against us until it’s in their best interests not to.

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Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate
Former Governor of Massachusetts

Mitt Romney

Romney Position on Iraq

• Romney supported the war and President Bush's policy in Iraq, he believes however that the war has been mismanaged.

• He supported the troop increase and favors maintaining troop levels.

• Romney says that keeping the U.S. in Iraq is the best option for minimizing casualties and maintaining a democratic government in Iraq.

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Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate
Former US Senator from Pennsylvania

Rick Santorum

Santorum Position on Iraq

In one of the most unique positions ever demonstrated by a candidate, Santorum drew a parallel between the war in Iraq and J.R.R Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel, Lord of The Rings.

“As the hobbits are going up Mount Doom, the Eye of Mordor is being drawn somewhere else. It's being drawn to Iraq and it's not being drawn to the U.S. You know what? I want to keep it on Iraq. I don't want the Eye to come back here to the United States.”

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Declared 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate

Matt Snyder

Snyder Position on Iraq

"Iraq has been an unpopular war since the beginning. Keeping American forces in Iraq means prolonging a very uneasy situation even longer—and at the cost of billions of tax dollars. Iraq’s gov’t has had years to establish its own security forces with the aid of the American military. Now, it’s time to allow them the honor of fighting for their own freedom. If Iraq chooses to remain an American ally, it would be to the benefit of their people, but another ally like the one we had in Pakistan is not something we will value."