Keller @ Large: Good Test For Senate Candidates
BOSTON (CBS) - It's been ten years this week that the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq; remember that first night of "shock and awe" on TV?
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Unfortunately, the eight-year war that followed left nearly 36,000 Americans dead or wounded, along with an estimated 100,000-plus civilian casualties.
So we decided to ask the five men running for U.S. Senate a simple question:
Only two chose to take a decisive position on that.
Democrat Ed Markey called the war "a fraud" perpetrated by the Bush administration, and said it "could have been avoided." But Republican Dan Winslow praised the removal of Saddam Hussein as a move that made the world "a better and safer place."
Democrat Stephen Lynch and Republican Michael Sullivan were more ambivalent, both saying the success or failure of our intervention hinges on the ability of Iraqis to turn their still-troubled country around.
And Republican Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, ignored the question entirely, simply praising our troops and promising help for Iraq war veterans.
In a perfect world, all of these gentlemen would do a little better than that.
Any sane person was glad to see Saddam go, but was the price tag justified? Partisan finger-pointing and naivete about diplomacy's effectiveness don't promote solutions or help the Syrians.
And while it may be fair to say the jury's still out on the Iraq war, every elected official should be thinking "is this worth it" at all times.
Foreign policy isn't easy, no doubt. Tough questions about it are a good test for someone who claims they can be a good senator.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
