Is Michael Arcuri saying one thing to one group of people and another thing somewhere else? It sure looks that way.

At the recent debate at the Donovan Middle School in Utica Arcuri says that we need to set a definite timetable to exit Iraq. Look at this, according to the Rome Sentinel:

Regarding the war in Iraq, Arcuri said a phased withdrawal plan is needed, and if one is not presented then a troop withdrawal should begin in 2006 and be completed in 2007.
Meier told Arcuri “your position has changed,” and said Arcuri previously was opposed to a withdrawal timetable. He said a public timetable would be a “recipe for stepped-up terrorist activity.”

Is Ray Meier speaking the truth? Did Michael Arcuri’s position change?

Well, actually, it looks like his position did change, and not that long ago. Just over a month ago, Arcuri spoke at a forum hosted by local veterans. NCPR has a clip on their website. Here is the relevant part of the transcript, starting at time 3:40:

Reporter: Here’s one of the questions that was put to the candidates by a local TV anchor, Andy Jenks.

Anchor: Do you support a date specific pullout of the US military in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why? We’ll start with Senator Meier.

Meier: No. If you announce a date certain for a pullout it will vastly make more dangerous the lives of the servicemen and women who are currently who are serving in those two theatres of operation. But, i would say the mission needs to be more clearly delineated. And I think that means putting much more pressure on the Iraqi coalition government to get it’s own armed forces and security forces standing up and operating. And if you look at the events of the last few days that means we have to take much more direct action against both the Sunni and Shii militias who are waging not just an insurgency but what now borders on a civil war.

Arcuri: In Iraq I don’t believe we should have a date certain. I think that that would jeaporadize the safety of the troops. However, I do believe that we need a plan for bringing our troops home. They a done a fine job there. They have done a magnificent job. They’ve removed a dicatator. They’ve instituted a democracy. We are training an army. They have about a two hundred seventy thousand person army and police force there. We have done a good job. Our soldiers have acted valiently. It’s time that we have a plan and start to bring them home. And I think that this administration owes it to the American people and owes it to our military to develop a plan to bring our soldiers home and to bring them home soon.