 Franken initially supported the Iraq War but opposed the 2007 troop surge . In an interview with MSNBC ’ s Joe Scarborough , Franken said that he " believed Colin Powell " , whose presentation at the United Nations convinced him that the war was necessary . However , since then he had come to believe that " we were misled into the war " and urged the Democratically controlled Congress to refuse to pass appropriations bills to fund the war if they don 't include timetables for leaving Iraq . In an interview with Josh Marshall , Franken said of the Democrats , " I think we 've gotta make President George W. Bush say , ' OK , I 'm cutting off funding because I won 't agree to a timetable . ' " 
