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Bill Richardson is the only major candidate who wants ALL the troops out now and pledges to end the war his first day in office and have ALL the troops out in 2009.
2009 or 2013 – it's our choice.
Show you’ve got his back on ending the war with a contribution of $20.13 now.
Video
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Ending the War: 2009 vs. 2013 At the MSNBC debate at Dartmouth College (Sept. 26, 2007), the candidates were asked to pledge that by January 2013 there will no U.S. troops in Iraq. Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards wouldn’t – Bill Richardson did.
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Long Enough Watch this ad featuring Democratic activists and bloggers discussing the importance of leaving no residual troops in Iraq.
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The Choice on Iraq This online video lays out differences on the Democratic candidates’ positions on the war in Iraq and how many troops they would leave behind. Richardson is the only major Presidential candidate with a plan that removes all troops from Iraq, leaving no residual troops behind, by the end of 2009.
Compare the Candidates
- Read The Richardson Plan for Iraq Bill Richardson is the only candidate committed to getting ALL of the troops out in 2009
- Hillary Clinton: On Iraq On the Record: Senator Clinton may leave up to 60,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely. She refused to pledge to have them out by 2013.
- Barack Obama: On Iraq On the Record: Senator Obama also may leave up to 60,000 troops in Iraq indefinitely. He also will not pledge to have them out by 2013
- John Edwards: On Iraq On the Record John Edwards: On Iraq On the Record
Notes
1 2007: Original figure and increases based on " Iraq Coalition Casualty Count." http://icasualties.org/oif/
1 2013: This figure is derived by taking 68.9, the average number of troops killed per month since the end of ‘major combat operations' on May 1, 2003 , and extrapolating based on the projected troop levels and redeployment rates of the leading Democratic candidates. For more details, please see the sources below:
Michael Gordon and Patrick Healy. "Clinton Says Some G.I.'s in Iraq Would Remain." 15 Mar 2007 , The New York Times . This article explains that Senator Hillary Clinton's plans would require an estimated 75,000 American troops to remain in Iraq. ;
Ted Koppel. "A Duty to Mislead: Politics and the Iraq War." All Things Considered: Koppel on the News . 11 Jun 2007 : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10947954. In this story, Ted Koppel recounts how "Senator Hillary Clinton privately told a senior military advisor… there will be some troops there [ Iraq ] for decades." ;
"September 26 Democratic Debate Transcript." MSNBC . http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21327206/ In this debate, Senator Clinton stated that she believed the U.S. military could "get one brigade to two brigades out per month."
Perry Bacon, Jr. "The Trail: Waiting for Specifics on Iraq ." The Washington Post , 5 Nov 2007 . http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/11/05/waiting_for_specifics_on_iraq.html
The article states that "Barack Obama has said he would remove all combat troops by removing 1 or 2 of the brigades each month." ;
"Plan to End the Iraq War." Website of Barack Obama for President. http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/ (Accessed on 11/10/07)
Senator Obama's website states that: "Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing our troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month." Senator Obama's Website is vague on what he would do with the estimated 97,800 support troops currently in Iraq . This number is derived by taking the CBO's non-combat to combat troops ration (5.5:4) and applying that to the 169,000 troops currently in-country.
For CBO's ratio of non-combat to combat troops, please see page two of the 1 Feb 2007 letter from CBO director Peter R. Orszag to House Budget Committee Chairman Congressman John M. Spratt, Jr.: http://cbo.gov/ftpdocs/77xx/doc7778/TroopIncrease.pdf
2 2007: Original figure and increases based on "VCS Factsheet: DoD Casualty Statistics for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars." Veterans for Common Sense, 7 Nov 2007 .
To see how the Administration and the Pentagon have been undercounting casualty statistics, please see the following article: Gordon Erspamer and Paul Sullivan. "Veterans Day VCS Editorial Column: VA and DoD Mask True Costs of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars." 8 Nov 07. http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/articleid/8734
2 2013: This figure is derived by using the same calculations as employed in endnote # 2.
3 2007: Original figure and rate of increase based on "National Priorities Project – Cost of War." This is the cost of the Iraq war as of 9 November 2007.
http://www.nationalpriorities.org/Cost-of-War/Cost-of-War-3.html
3 2013: This estimate is derived by taking the base cost of $467 billion, and then extrapolating out toward 2007 based on the public details of costs per year by troop levels, and the projected troop levels and redeployment rates of the leading Democratic candidates. For more details, please see the sources listed above in endnote #2.
