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Tom Campbell, Superhawk

By W. James Antle, III on 2.23.10 @ 1:53PM

I think some of the characterizations of Tom Campbell as "anti-Israel" are over the top. So does David Frum. But I'm afraid Daniel Larison is being equally over the top in pronouncing Campbell a "reliable hawk." In the House, Campbell led the opposition to the Kosovo war. He pushed for de-linking economic sanctions from the military embargo of Iraq and campaigned on easing sanctions against Iraq in his 2000 Senate campaign.

Campbell did did defend the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, but he was also calling for U.S. withdrawal by 2004. "The day we found Hussein in his spider hole," Campbell wrote, "is the day we should have announced our phased withdrawal." And he always opposed nation-building by the U.S. military: "When police arrest a criminal, they don't occupy a neighborhood for as long as it takes to remedy the social conditions that led to the rise of criminals. Important as that goal might be, it is not the police officers' role."

On his campaign website under "national security," Campbell goes on at length about his opposition to presidential wars and the need to protect congressional war powers under the Constitution. He mentions his vote for the Persian Gulf War in 1991 and his opposition to Kosovo in 1999. Nowhere does he mention Iraq or Afghanistan today.

Campbell does support so-called "crippling sanctions" against Iran. I personally think such sanctions would make war with Iran more likely rather than less, so I oppose them. But if I thought the sanctions could achieve no Iranian nukes with no war, I would support them. At least some supporters of sanctions hold this mistaken belief. Campbell has also said he would support Israeli military action against Iran. But he is not running for Knesset. Both Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul supported Israeli military strikes against the nuclear reactor Saddam Hussein was building in Iraq.

The truth is, Campbell is a mixed bag on a lot of these questions and his record gets even more hopelessly convoluted when you look at fiscal policy. He's given people who look at these issues from a variety of perspectives good reasons to vote against him if they are looking for any.

View all comments (3) | Leave a comment

Alan Brooks| 2.23.10 @ 3:42PM

"In the House, Campbell led the opposition to the Kosovo war."

Super-Weasel, not Super-Hawk. However, after what the Nazis did to the former Yugoslavia, it was hard to stomach the German Air Force's participation in the Kosovo War. Was the GAF trying to make amends?
That would be almost like Confederate descendants bombing the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Eric Dondero| 2.23.10 @ 8:17PM

I gotta tell ya James, as the Nation's leading "Warmonger" libertarian, I'm actually intriguied by Campbell's view that we should have left Iraq the moment we caught Saddam. In a strange sort of way, that makes a lot of sense.

Even I could live with a relatively cautious approach to fighting Islamo-Fascism like that.

I'm warming up to Campbell's candidacy.

Roy| 2.24.10 @ 3:56AM

"Left Iraq" in the hands of what government? One we handpicked? You racist imperialist. One that was elected? Under what election laws? Ones we wrote? You warmongering fascist.

The point at which there was an Iraqi government with some level of stability that we could reasonably have "left things to" could have been mid 2006. If we had, they would have eliminated "insurgent" terrorism the old fashioned way, that of massive retaliation against the host ethnic group. It is possible we could have lived with that outcome, but the outcome actually achieved, however temporary, has been quite a bit better.