Iraq and the Presidential Election

Can you believe that on Thursday, March 20th, it will have been five years since the United States led the invasion into Iraq? Sometimes it seems like the conflict has been dragging on so much longer. Other times it seems like just yesterday that we were watching American troops help Iraqis pull down that statue of Saddam.

Does it seem that we are talking about Iraq a lot less than we used to? Has the mainstream media totally abdicated responsibility for covering this story, choosing instead to talk about super-delegates and shocking caucus results? Have the candidates refused to discuss it? Are we just so relieved that the violence is below pre-surge levels that we feel we can ignore it ? Are we just bored with it-and misinformed about it? Why is there not major mainstream media coverage of the winter soldier hearings?

Whatever it is, we know our audience still cares about Iraq and what is happening there, so over this week and next we are bringing you a series of podcasts talking about Iraq. We’re going to hear from scholars, journalists, Iraqis and Iraqi Americans, veterans, peace activists and more. If you have any ideas for points of view you want us to investigate, let us know!

First up, we wanted to take a look at the intersection of the presidential election and Iraq. Where do Senators McCain, Clinton, and Obama
stand on the war (click on their names to read their campaign platforms on Iraq)? What is their history in terms of the Iraq war (Go here for Clinton, here for McCain, and here for Obama)? What
can the beliefs of their advisers tell us about their agenda? McCain has a reputation for being a maverick-does he have a maverick agenda for Iraq? Does the fact that he is a veteran give his agenda more credibility? Some people say Hillary and Obama agree on most major policies–is that true for their Iraq plans? To get to the bottom of
these questions, we talked with UMBC history professor Brad Simpson. He is an astute observer and analyst of U.S. foreign policy. Sure, he’s got a point of view and he isn’t afraid to voice it, but he’s got criticism for both sides of the aisle and he dishes it out with a real knowledge of the issues.

Let us know what you think…

Running time is 27 minutes.