WABI-TV5 has been featuring the two men running for maine's second seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, as well as the three major candidates vying for Senator Olympia Snowe's seat in the senate.

Wednesday morning, the three senate candidates answered this question.

Come 2014, Afghanistan security forces will be in the lead as U.S. forces shift to a security role. Do you agree with this timeline?

"I would have preferred that the United States troops come home, you know, came home sooner, but I support President Obama's timeline. I'm deeply saddened by recent events in the Middle East and in Afghanistan that are really taking the lives of American troops, taking the lives of innocent bystanders, women and children have recently been casualties. And so, the whole thing is, is a mess, but I do support staying until 2014 to try to stabilize the situation and have a responsible transition to the Afghanis, to hopefully, secure their fledgling government, and ensure that the Taliban and other Al-Qaida extremists don't infiltrate and create havoc for us, again."

Charlie Summers:
"Well, I think it's very difficult, in putting timelines out. As somebody who's served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, you know, I understand the need to make sure that, that the situations on the ground dictate what happens. And to set an arbitrary deadline, is very, very difficult to do, and I think it's kind of setting ourselves up for failure, in that regard. I think that we need to see what the situation on the ground is at that time and then adjust from there, but I think just to make an arbitrary guideline, that's a very difficult thing to meet."

Angus King:
"Yes, I think it, it gets us out on some kind of reasonable basis, and I understand that you can't just walk out, and, and leave people that we've supported, and that who have supported us. On the other hand, it's, it's just hard for me to believe that we've been there for ten years, and that, what really bothers me is that I travel the state, I meet people that have been there, families, the cost of this war is going to echoing through our society for the next fifty years. In terms of deaths and injuries and trauma, we are now losing more soldiers to suicide in Afghanistan than we are in battle. And that tells me that something's terribly wrong with the mission. And I understand going in right after September eleventh and trying to clean out these places where the, the Al-Qaida was, but to have stayed as long as we have, I think it's something we really need to think deeply about. It's very easy to get into wars, we've proven that in the last ten years, very hard to get out, so the sooner, the better, as far as I'm concerned. ">

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