Lourey campaign emphasizing Iraq war

08/18/2006

Peace activist Becky Lourey is trying to elevate the war in Iraqand the Guard’s deploymentas issues in the DFL gubernatorial primary.

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
Last update: August 17, 2006 – 11:55 PM

Serving notice that she intends to make the Iraq war a bigger issue in the final month of her DFL gubernatorial primary campaign, state Sen. Becky Lourey on Thursday announced the formation of a “Minnesota Peace Initiative.”
Lourey, who lost a son in Iraq last year and got national attention as a voice against the war, promised to work with other governors to challenge the “improper, overextended use of state militia.” Matt Lourey, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot, was killed in May 2005.

Considered an underdog in the primary against her party’s endorsed candidate, Attorney General Mike Hatch, Lourey said she would work with other governors and “demand that the compromised mission of the National Guard return to its appropriate role, keeping the peace here and responding to emergencies.”

Governors don’t have much of a role in national foreign policy-making and usually steer clear of those issues. But a wave of support from the state’s sizable anti-war movement might help Lourey narrow the gap against Hatch, who hasn’t said much about Iraq.

“Senator Becky Lourey and her family have made the ultimate sacrifice in the Iraq war,” Hatch’s campaign said in a response to her pledges. “The loss of her son and other Minnesota men and women in the war is a great tragedy. Mike Hatch agrees that we need to support military families and promote renewable energy.”

More financial support for 3,500 Minnesotans who have served in the war so far, and an aggressive focus on alternative energy to reduce dependence on Middle East oil, also were key elements of Lourey’s three-point peace initiative.

In a reference to the potential political power of the war issue, Lourey noted similarities between herself and Ned Lamont, an anti-war Democrat who recently defeated Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman with the message that Lieberman was too supportive of President Bush and the war.

And she said she invited Hatch and other candidates to the announcement of her peace initiative. No others attended, but Lourey did not any issue any specific criticism of Hatch on the war issue.

Hatch’s view

Hatch said that there is no parallel between himself and Lieberman and that “nobody has challenged me” for being too close to Bush on any issue.

Hatch said, “It’s appropriate for a [gubernatorial] candidate to speak about foreign policy, and I understand her stress on this issue.” But he said Lourey’s effort to challenge the White House on the deployment of National Guard to foreign wars is on shaky legal ground.

Noting former Gov. Rudy Perpich’s unsuccessful effort in the late 1980s to fight deployment of the Guard to Central America, Hatch said the courts “have made it clear that the president is commander-in-chief and has absolute authority."If governors feel strongly, they ought to express an opinion,” Hatch said, “but it ill serves the interests of the nation to have 50 governors interfering with the ability of the country to defend itself.”

Hatch also expressed ambivalence about what he personally thinks ought to be done, and whether and when troops should be withdrawn.

“If we pull out today, there will be chaos and a regional war. If we stay, there probably will be chaos and a regional war. I hope and pray that our national leaders are working on some sort of peacekeeping mission to get some stability in that country,” Hatch said.

Lourey and about a dozen other anti-war activists who appeared with her at a Capitol news conference disputed the notion that war and peace are not the province of governors.

Lourey said Minnesotans are “less safe and less secure,” economically threatened by soaring gas prices, because of the war.