The eight U.S. Democratic candidates seeking their party's presidential nomination for next year's elections sparred over Iraq, experience and other issues in a debate on Sunday.
In the 90-minute televised debate held in Des Moines, Iowa, the candidates sparred over a wide range of issues, such as health care and education, but the focus was on Iraq.
All the candidates expressed the desire to end the war in Iraq, but they disputed over how quickly to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and how many to leave behind. A few, including Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel, talked about an immediate withdrawal, while others warned that it would be difficult to mount a swift withdrawal.
"This is going to take a while," said New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware said a careless withdrawal would splinter the country and create a dangerous regional war with consequences far beyond Iraq.
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois agreed that there should be an "orderly phased withdrawal."
The debate also focused on the candidates' experience to conduct U.S. foreign policy.
Obama said that if elected president, he would be willing to meet with leaders of the so-called "rogue states," and that he would be willing to send military forces into Pakistan if there was strong intelligence indicating the whereabouts of al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd, who has served in Congress for over 30 years, said those comments proved Obama was not ready to be president. "We are asking Democrats across the country to choose amongst us here who is best able to lead," he said.
"You are not going to have time in January of '09 to get ready for this job. You have got to be ready immediately for it," he said.
Obama defended his position, saying that the current policy of not meeting with our adversaries has been far from successful. "If you want somebody who can bring our country around a common purpose, rally around a common destiny, then I'm your guy," he said.
He said it had been proven that experience was not necessarily the best criteria for tackling weighty problems. He cited current and former U.S. officials involved in planning for the Iraq war.
Clinton, who has accused Obama of being naive in foreign affairs, said in the debate, "I'm running on my own qualifications and experience" and suggested that "it's really up to the voters" to parse the differences among candidates.
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson took an opportunity to weigh in with an alternative. "You know, I think that Senator Obama does represent change. Senator Clinton has experience. Change and experience: With me, you get both."
The debate was the Democrats' eighth this year, but their first nationally broadcast in the Midwestern state of Iowa, which will host one of the first major contests of the 2008 campaign.
Source: Xinhua
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