Democratic 6th Congressional District candidate Tammy Duckworth said Wednesday the Iraq conflict is not part of the war on terror, taking the opposite view of President Bush and her Republican opponent.

“I absolutely do not agree that Iraq is part of the war on terror,” said Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran, at a news conference in Oakbrook Terrace. “I think a very small percentage of what’s happening in Iraq is terrorist activity. I think most of it is sectarian violence. It’s Sunni fighting Shiites.”

That view drew a raised eyebrow from her Republican opponent Peter Roskam.

“The notion that theater of conflict (in Iraq) is de-coupled from the war on terror, I just disagree with that,” said Roskam, a state senator from Wheaton. “I’m actually surprised she would say that.” ~The Daily Herald

Score one for Ms. Duckworth, who has actually been to Iraq, against Roskam’s Bush-like refrain, “I just disagree with that.”  If that is what the debates on Iraq are going to be like in IL-6, the Republicans are definitely in trouble.