General: “We should not send more American troops [to Iraq]. That would be the worst thing.” (Democratic Primary Debate, Albuquerque New Mexico, 9/4/03)
Threat of Saddam Hussein: “[Hussein] is a man who has used weapons of mass destruction...not only against other people but against his own people. This is a man who tried to assassinate a former president of the United States, a man who lobbed 36
missiles into Israel in order to destabilize the Middle East, a man who is so capable of miscalculation that he even brought this war on himself. This is a man who, if he was left uncaptured, would have continued to be able to organize the Ba’athists. He would have
continued to terrorize the people, just in their minds, because of
30 years of terror in Iraq.” (Meet The Press, 1/11/04)
Smarter war on terror: “I will fight a smarter, more effective war on terror. We will deploy every tool in our arsenal: our economic as well as our military might; our principles as well as our firepower.” (Democratic National Convention 7/29/04)
Bush as misleader: “I do not regret my vote [in support of Iraq war]. I regret that we have a president who misled America and broke every promise he made to the U.S. Congress.” (2/26/04) “Misleading our nation into war in Iraq makes [Bush] unfit to lead our country.” (9/3/04)
On voting for the $87 billion: “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it.” (3/17/04)
Voted YES on authorization of use of force in Iraq War (H.J. Res. 114, 10/11/02).
Voted NO on the $87 billion Emergency Appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan Security and Reconstruction (S. 1689, 10/17/03).
Voted YES on deploying missile defense capable of defending against a limited ballistic missile attack (S. 257, 3/17/99).
Voted NO on similar measure (S. 1873, 9/9/98).
Voted NO on use of force in Gulf War (S. J. Res. 2, 1/12/91).