Bloggers on Iraq: An IM Chat

Nick Gillespie debates Ed Morrissey and Judd Legum about Iraq and the 2006 election in an Associated Press IM chat.

November 7, 2006

Next week's midterm elections may well come down to one issue: the war in Iraq, and which party is better equipped to deal with it.

asap has brought together the voices of three bloggers from across the political spectrum, giving them an opportunity to sound off, in an IM chat, on a major election issue each Thursday until Election Day.

For the final installment, the topic is Iraq.

The participants:

-- Judd Legum, editor of ThinkProgress.org, a progressive blog run by the Center for American Progress in Washington.

-- Edward Morrissey, who runs the conservative Captain's Quarters blog.

-- Nick Gillespie, editor-in-chief of the libertarian journal Reason and blogger on the publication's blog, Hit and Run.

Note from the editor: In some cases, comments that participants sent at the same time have been reordered to make more logical sense. Also note that capitalization and punctuation of the original chat have been preserved. And in order to preserve the participants' privacy, their screen names have been replaced with ... their actual names.

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asap: All right ... we're talking Iraq tonight. Apparently just like everyone else.

asap: Should a timeline be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, or should withdrawal be contingent on the accomplishment of certain specified goals?

Edward Morrissey: Withdrawal means one of two things: the mission is over and it was accomplished, or the mission is over and it failed ...

Edward Morrissey: If we want to accomplish the mission, then we need the latter and not the former. If we want to admit defeat ...

Edward Morrissey: then we need the former and not the latter.

Judd Legum: I think we should have a timeline for withdrawal...