Samantha Kominic hugs her boyfriend Lance Corp. Earnest Hall as he arrives home in Camp Pendleton, California.
Republicans: The mission must be accomplished. The Republicans are almost all committed to staying in Iraq indefinitely and oppose timetables for troop withdrawals. All candidates except Paul supported Bush's surge, which increased troop levels in 2007. They disagree about how to determine when Iraq is stable. When local police are fully trained? Attacks decrease? 69% of gop voters want troops to stay until Iraq is stabilized and 73% of Democrats want troops withdrawn as soon as possible, says a December 2007 Pew Research poll.
Democrats: Bring troops home soon—but when? Although many Democrats voted in 2002 in support of Bush's decision to invade Iraq, there are few who still defend that action. These days, the debate is not about whether to withdraw troops from Iraq, but how soon. All Democratic presidential candidates opposed Bush's surge in 2007 to increase troop levels, and they have pushed for a timetable on an exit strategy for Iraq. Despite their opposition, Democrats still overwhelmingly vote to provide funding for troops in Iraq. Congress passed the latest spending bill by a vote of 397 to 27 in the House and 92 to 3 in the Senate.