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But I'm talking about the war in Iraq.

Well, I think if you look at the military conflict between the Iraqi government and the United States, it was over in a few weeks. This was a very different kind of conflict than what's going on right now, and the conflict is now an extension of the war on Islamic fascists. The principle instigators of the problems in Iraq right now are not Iraqis; they're Iranians. And there are other jihadists who are there who believe that they can successfully prosecute this war against the United States by trying to defeat us, to defeat what we have accomplished in Iraq.

In your book, It Takes a Family, you emphasized responsibility. Have there been mistakes that the President or at least the Secretary of Defense needs to take responsibility for?

Would you have impeached Abraham Lincoln for all the mistakes he made during the Civil War?

But Abraham Lincoln fired generals.

Sure, he fired generals. We have not seen anywhere even close to the level of incompetence of the Union generals during the Civil War. We have seen military plans executed fairly well, and the execution of the Gulf War strategy was a remarkable military accomplishment. The problems here really do not speak to the problems of the generals in executing military plans. The problems speak to the problems that multiple Presidents confronted after the Civil War, which is reconstruction. It's a very tough job. I don't demand perfection from anybody. What I do is I want to make sure they are well prepared, that they're executing the job as best as could be done and understand that in every war and in every conflict the enemy adapts and changes its tactics and can be successful on occasion, which they are.

Are you advocating any change in strategy now?

I think the biggest concern I have is not how we will fare ultimately in the Middle East. Al Qaeda is not a shred of what they were at the beginning of this war. The only solace they have is the fact that the American public is turning against this war. That's the big concern I have. It is not military tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan, as difficult as those fights may be. I am confident that we will persevere, and we will win. The question is: Will we have the support of the American public to do so?

What about your opponent Casey's perspective on the Iraq war?

I think it would be very difficult for anyone, including Al Qaeda, to figure out what my opponent has to say on virtually any issue. He's been about as cryptic on the issue of the war as he is on what he wants to do with Social Security or with solving the deficit or a whole host of other issues. He's been on both sides of almost every question with respect to the war.

Some people would say Casey is pro-life. He's Catholic. So why shouldn't people of faith support him if we are Democrats? Before we might have voted for Santorum, but this time we could vote for a guy whom we feel comfortable with and still be Democrats.

There are a lot of reasons Democrats vote for me other than the fact I'm pro-life. The biggest issue for the pro-life community, I would expect, is the issue of judges. And Mr. Casey has come out already saying that he'd be willing to filibuster judges, taking the position that Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer take on that. I do not believe in the filibuster of judges. Now, I don't understand how somebody who says he's pro-life would filibuster judges when the principal reason the Democrats are filibustering judges is because of the pro-life issue. But, nevertheless, he has been very clear and upright saying that he supported the filibustering of judges.

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October (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50