Senate candidates differ on military, Iraq

SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate rivals Dick Durbin and Steve Sauerberg offer contrasting views when it comes to military policy.

Durbin, the Democratic senator form Springfield, voted against the war in Iraq, would still do so today, says it's time to bring the troops home and contends the Iraq invasion "may be the greatest foreign policy failure of any administration in our nation's history."

Sauerberg, a Republican doctor from Willowbrook, supported military action in Iraq, though he now questions the evidence used to build that support. He says it would be a mistake to set a withdrawal timeline and believes the efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan have been successful.

"There have certainly been mistakes and missteps along the way, but victory is in sight in Iraq and under the capable leadership of General (David) Petraeus, we will win in Afghanistan as well," Sauerberg said.

The candidates shared their views on military issues in responding to a recent Daily Herald questionnaire. They are the major party candidates for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

Durbin, previously a member of the U.S. House, was elected to the Senate in 1996 and re-elected in 2002. He currently serves as the Senate's assistant majority leader. Sauerberg is making his first run at elected office.

Other candidates on the ballot include Green Party nominee Kathy Cummings of Chicago, Larry Stafford, a South Beloit Libertarian, and Chad Koppie from Gilberts running for the Constitution Party of Illinois.

Both Durbin and Sauerberg agreed that military force should be an option of "last resort." But Sauerberg was more direct when asked where else military force might be an option.

"As a U.S. senator, I will support all efforts necessary to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of madmen. I am hopeful that economic and political pressure - particularly in concert with our allies across the globe - will convince the Iranian and North Korean regimes not to pursue a nuclear weapons program, but all options must be kept on the table," Sauerberg said.

Durbin, meanwhile, took a more cautionary stance.

"The war in Iraq serves as a reminder that our country should use military force only after careful deliberation and when all other options to protect our national interest have failed," he said.