President Bush and each of the three leading contenders to be his replacement each made formal speeches or statements this week to note the fifth year anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War.

I've captured each of them here for side by side comparison. Candidly, I was a little surprised by how hard I had to work to find them and post them here. I don't know whether that is a reflection of how fast the train moves on other issues or because the four of them preferred to minimize the attention to the topic.

I encourage you not just to read the text, but to watch the video (if included), too. Much is often revealed by body posture and inflection.

In sum, Bush and McCain say that everything is fine. We've had some rough patches, but if we keep on doing what we're doing, then everything will be justified in the end. There is no acknowledgement that our expenditures in Iraq (and Afghanistan) are a significant contributing factor to the difficulties of our economy. Separately, McCain had the gaffe this week about saying Iran is training and funding Al Qaeda.

Clinton and Obama, of course, take the opposite tact. Significant emphasis is placed on how much the war costs and the impact that has on our economy, as well as the diversion of resources from Afghanistan being in Iraq represents. Also noted is the investment that will be required to re-build our ground forces once we extricate ourselves from Iraq.

I noted with interest Senator Clinton's assertion that she would get rid of the security contractors in Iraq and replace them State Department personnel. This is much easier said than done. Expanding the State Department's security branch will require significant increases in pay in order to attract the needed numbers and will be a long slow process. Similar things can be said about desires to expand our armed forces.

Overall, when I think of where we are in Iraq and what we should be looking for in our next President, this is one of the prime thoughts I have. We need someone in this job who is inclined to ask, "What if?"

What if we are not greeted as liberators? What if we disband the Iraqi Army? What if we don't have the personnel to guard the ammunition dumps or secure the country? What if our estimates on the cost of the war are wrong? These type questions apply to a lot of domestic issues, too.

The inability to ask "What if?" with a long term view of the health of the country is a prime reason we have the issues we have today in so many areas, not just the war in Iraq.

Here's the links to the various speeches.

President Bush: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/03/20080319-2.html

Senator McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/Read.aspx?guid=b00406d1-3b31-48e9-8aa6-c0eb8f3b8097

Senator Clinton: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=6553

Senator Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGBFrl