John Edwards Gets Back to Iraq
04 October 2007 8:07 am by Taylor Marsh
"I will end combat missions."
– John Edwards
Yesterday he focused again on Iraq, going straight at Blackwater. Getting press on Iraq is critical to Edwards mounting a strong last push in the primaries.
”We must put the democracy back in our military and prevent a disaster like
the continuation of the Iraq War from ever occurring again,” Edwards says
in remarks provided to The Associated Press. ”As commander in chief, I will
transfer most security missions currently performed by contractors back to
military command, where they belong.”
More of his speech and his plans for ending
the private contractor abuse is laid out on
his site.
"The recent incidents of violence involving Blackwater contractors in
Iraq, including the shooting of Iraqi civilians in Baghdad last month, have
caused tremendous damage to America’s battle for the hearts and minds of Iraqis,"
said Edwards. "These incidents hurt America’s moral standing, both in
Iraq and around the world. And they serve as a tragic reminder of how the
Bush Administration has outsourced our military responsibilities to corporate
contractors and political cronies who operate outside of the rules of engagement
and without any meaningful oversight."As president, I will end our current system of outsourcing security
missions to private contractors. It is imperative that we do so and return
to an all-volunteer military that responds to the will of the American people."
Edwards hope to change the dynamic in this race, raise his profile and get back to where he was in Iowa, leading the pack, is to get back to Iraq. People are hungry for leadership on the war, especially
with the Congress unable to move the debate. But he still has a problem on his
unwillingness not to pledge to withdraw troops by 2013. The last debate with
Russert hurt Edwards. I will never understand the hedging on withdrawal.
He also said something else in the interview that was really at the heart of
it all. Next fall we need a clear choice between more war with the Republicans,
and a little less war from Democrats. Out of Iraq by 2013 is the least our nominee
should promise. If Bush screws things up in the meantime that pledge can always
be revisited. After all, given enough time and enough rope Bush has proven time
and again he can hang us all. Any of the nominees could have said just that in the debate. They didn’t, even if Obama just two days ago flipped to say he’d get all troops out in 16 months. Dodd and Richardson understand what’s needed. That Edwards gave this ground was a huge mistake. Getting back to the topic yesterday was a beginning and a very smart move.
