Senate Democratic candidates split on Afghan war policy

DES MOINES – Two of the Democrats running for the U.S. Senate said Monday they disagree with President Obama's approach to the war in Afghanistan, and are calling for a quick withdrawal of U.S. troops.

The three Democrats are vying in the June 8 primary election for the chance to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley in November.

They appeared in a debate Monday sponsored by WHO-TV and The Des Moines Register.

Des Moines attorney Roxanne Conlin said during the debate said she doesn't agree with Obama's addition of 30,000 new troops in Afghanistan and supports an “orderly and rapid withdrawal.”

“We are allied with a corrupt government, and that never, ever works out properly. We're spilling our own blood and treasure in a cause where we can't win,” Conlin said.

But Conlin said she didn't want to the United States to abandon the Afghan people.

“They need assistance. They need teachers. They need schools. They need infrastructure. And we need to help them with that, but we are not helping with an ongoing war,” Conlin said.

Candidate Bob Krause of Fairfield also disagreed with the Obama administration's Afghanistan policy, saying the United States needs to get out of the country immediately.

“When we leave, yes, there may be a civil war, but it will be between central Asian people, and we will not be involved in it,” said Krause, a former state lawmaker.

He's calling for a peace conference of the region's powers, and said Afghanistan needs to return to its historic role as a neutral buffer state.

Candidate Tom Fiegen of Clarence said the U.S. needs to leave Afghanistan stable and safe for its citizens and an immediate pullout would leave them in the lurch.

“Obviously, China should be a partner there, but the Chinese have said to us, ‘you made that mess, you clean it up', and until we can get the international community to step in and help, I don't think we can say unilaterally ‘let's pull out' and set a timetable,” said Fiegen, an attorney and former state lawmaker.

The only direct confrontation during the debate came when Fiegen questioned Conlin Properties' use of millions of dollars in tax credits to build housing.

Conlin said the tax credits are part of the national effort to provide housing to low-income people, and said they are proud of the properties that they own and manage.

“We provide playgrounds, and computer rooms and security and do everything that we can to be helpful to the people who live in the buildings,” Conlin said.

She said her husband has been building these kinds of projects for decades, and after the debate called Fiegen's charges “simply ridiculous.”