CarolC, that is so far from Dean's position, I wonder how you got that impression of him. This is where Howard Dean stands on the foreign policy issue:


quote
                                                   "Securing America at Home and Abroad

                                       

                                    The United States has a special role to play in world
                                    affairs as an historic inspiration to those around the
                                    world seeking democracy, freedom, and opportunity.
                                    Our own fight for independence, democracy and basic
                                    human rights has allowed us to act as a moral force
                                    in world affairs and a guiding light for other nations.

                                    In the last century, our strength as a nation was
                                    measured more by the extent to which others
                                    emulated and respected us abroad than by the extent
                                    to which they feared and loathed us.

                                    Under George W. Bush, this nation has lost its way.
                                    Not only are we less secure at home and abroad, we
                                    have squandered our role as the inspiration and
                                    guiding light for other peoples. I seek to restore
                                    America's rightful place in the world and its
                                    moral leadership in world affairs.

                                    We remain the sole superpower in the world – as
                                    Madeleine Albright once put it, the "indispensable
                                    power" for addressing so many of the challenges
                                    around the world. But we cannot lead the world by
                                    force, and we cannot go it alone. We must lead
                                    toward clearly articulated and shared goals and with
                                    the cooperation and respect of friends and allies.

                                    I seek to restore the best traditions of American
                                    leadership. Leadership in which our power is
                                    multiplied by the appeal of democratic ideals and by
                                    the knowledge that our country is a force for law
                                    around the world not a law unto itself.

                                    I will not divide the world into us versus them. Rather, I will rally the world around
                                    fundamental principles of decency, responsibility, freedom, and mutual respect. Our
                                    foreign and military policy must be about the notion of America leading the world not
                                    America against the world.

                                    I opposed President Bush's war in Iraq from the beginning. While Saddam
                                    Hussein's regime was clearly evil and needed to be disarmed, it did not present an
                                    immediate threat to U.S. security that would justify going to war, particularly going to war
                                    alone. From the beginning, I felt that winning the war would not be the hard part – winning
                                    the peace would be. This administration failed to plan for the postwar period as it did for
                                    the battle, and today we are paying the price.

                                    My opposition to the war, however, is part of a comprehensive view of America's
                                    role in the world that I presented to the Council on Foreign Relations on June 25th (click here for full text). In that speech, I laid out four goals for American leadership in the world:

                                          First, defeat the threat posed by terrorists, tyrants, and technologies of mass destruction.
                                          Second, strengthen our alliances and ensure Russia and China are fully integrated into a
                                          stable international order.
                                          Third, enlarge the circle of beneficiaries of the growing world economy.
                                          And fourth, ensure that life on our fragile planet is sustainable.

                                    Fifty-five years ago, President Harry Truman delivered what was known as the Four Point
                                    speech. In it, he challenged Democrats and Republicans alike to come together to build
                                    strong and effective international organizations; to support arrangements that would spur
                                    global economic recovery; to join with free people everywhere in the defense of human
                                    liberty; and to draw upon the genius of our people to help societies who needed help in the
                                    battle against hunger and illness, ignorance and despair.

                                    Harry Truman believed that a world in which even the poorest and most desperate had
                                    grounds for hope would be a world in which our own children could grow up in security and
                                    peace not because evil would then be absent from the globe, but because the forces of
                                    right would be united and strong.

                                    Harry Truman had faith as I have faith, and as I believe the American people have faith, that
                                    if we are wise enough and determined enough in our opposition to hate and our promotion
                                    of tolerance; in our opposition to aggression and our fidelity to law; we will have allies not
                                    only among governments but among people everywhere.

                                    Such an alliance can never be beaten.

                                    And the creation of such an alliance will be my goal if I am entrusted with the presidency of
                                    the United States. Because, this is what will keep America strong. This is what reflects the
                                    best in the American people. And this is the core of the national security message that I will
                                    be carrying to all of America throughout this campaign that I am committed to working
                                    constructively with friends and allies around the globe to help people in every corner of
                                    every continent to live in freedom, prosperity and peace. " Gov. Howard Dean, M.D.