9/12 - Edwards Statement: "Enough is Enough"

[Catchawave]

http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/9/12/141216/984#3

EDWARDS STATEMENT ON IRAQ
Chapel Hill, North Carolina - Today Senator John Edwards released the following statement on Iraq:

"After two days of General Petraeus' testimony, only one thing seems clear: this president isn't going to change his failed policy in Iraq until he is forced to do so. The question now is whether Congress will once again cave to his demands, or if they will stand firm and answer the call of the American people who last November voted for change in Iraq.

"My position has been very clear. For over a year, I have called for an immediate withdrawal of 40-50,000 troops--not by next summer, not in the near future, but today--to jumpstart the comprehensive political solution that will end the violence in Iraq and will allow a complete withdrawal of all combat troops within 9 to 10 months. Some, like Senator Obama, have said we should only 'begin' to end this war now. Senator Obama would withdraw only 1-2 combat brigades a month between now and the end of next year, which for the next several months could essentially mimic the president's own plans to withdraw 30,000 troops by next summer.

"Taking credit for this gradual withdrawal is like taking credit for gravity. These 30,000 troops would have to be withdrawn anyway, unless the president extended tours to an unconscionable 18 months.

"Enough is enough. We don't need to 'begin' to end the war now. What we need to do now is actually end the war. This is about right and wrong. Our young men and women are dying every day for a failed policy. Every member of Congress who believes this war must end, from Senators Obama and Clinton to Senator Warner, has a moral responsibility to use every tool available to them, including a filibuster, to force the president to change course. Congress must stand firm and say: No timetable, no funding. No excuses."

[jsamuel]

1. Thanks, Edwards is right. We need to end the war now, not "begin" to end it.

[Catchawave]

3. I'm glad he's putting pressure on the Senators.....

I think he's leading on this with Dodd ...."just end it now".

:hi:

[JDPriestly]

5. Edwards is the only Democratic candidate who has a clue

about how to settle disputes. You say what you want. You don't start to negotiate from what you think the other side wants. Obama and Hillary think they are being nice. They think they are being "realistic." You don't start a negotiation by telling the other side what you think is "realistic." The beginning of a negotiation is the only chance you have to stake out what you see as the "ideal" solution. The Democrats in Congress start negotiating with the attitude that they will never get what they really want, so why try. I would not want them to represent me as lawyers. I do not want them representing me in negotiating in Congress. They don't know what they are doing. Edwards knows how to negotiate. That is one of the reasons that I support him for president.

[Hieronymus]

9. We need Edwards.

[Lobster Martini]

2. Best line: "Taking credit for this gradual withdrawal is like taking credit for gravity"

Hillary Clinton's comment was similar: "Taking credit for this troop reduction is like taking credit for the sun coming up in the morning."

[Catchawave]

4. And I agree with both those statements....

It will be interesting how our good Senators vote for the upcoming funding bill !

[Apollo11]

12. Hillary's metaphor was a better choice

I mean - who needs gravity anyway? :eyes:

Still I like John Edwards best out of the already-announced candidates.

So unless Al Gore or Wes Clark jumps in - I will be rootin' for Edwards.

"Running a strong campaign. Put out a lot of very thoughtful policy statements and positions. I think you can see the strength that he's gained from having been around the track last time."
Al Gore on John Edwards, CNN, May 22, 2007
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/22/lkl.01.html

[Raster]

6. Go John, Go!

Wake up, America!:kick:

[Ninga]

7. Simple, strong, and firm in his convictions. Keep on keeping on, John. Don't leave

anything on the table.

We need you to keep fighting.

[slipslidingaway]

8. 9/12/02.... IRAQI DICTATOR MUST GO...John Edwards

http://web.archive.org/web/20021214041757/edwards.senate.gov/statements/20020912_iraq.html

"...The path of confronting Saddam is full of hazards. But the path of inaction is far more dangerous. This week, a week where we remember the sacrifice of thousands of innocent Americans made on 9-11, the choice could not be starker. Had we known that such attacks were imminent, we surely would have used every means at our disposal to prevent them and take out the plotters. We cannot wait for such a terrible event – or, if weapons of mass destruction are used, one far worse – to address the clear and present danger posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq."

"First, this means making the strongest possible case to the American people about the danger Saddam poses..."


http://www.operation-infinitejustice.org/gw912-02.html

9/12/02...George W Bush speech to the United Nations regarding Saddam Hussein's threat to the free world:

"...Events can turn in one of two ways: If we fail to act in the face of danger, the people of Iraq will continue to live in brutal submission. The regime will have new power to bully and dominate and conquer its neighbors, condemning the Middle East to more years of bloodshed and fear. The regime will remain unstable -- the region will remain unstable, with little hope of freedom, and isolated from the progress of our times. With every step the Iraqi regime takes toward gaining and deploying the most terrible weapons, our own options to confront that regime will narrow. And if an emboldened regime were to supply these weapons to terrorist allies, then the attacks of September the 11th would be a prelude to far greater horrors..."

[Indenturedebtor]

11. Yeah yeah

He was taken in by the runup... So were a lot of people. I'm not excusing it, but I've been sold ideas that I later changed my mind about.

The important thing is that he realised his mistake, and that he is speaking out.

[slipslidingaway]

13. Did the others also give speeches connecting the need to

remove Saddam while speaking of the 9/11 attacks??? It's more than just his vote.

At least Hillary voted for the amendments to put a check on the IWR vote, Edwards voted against all the amendments.

And still others were reading and questioning the intelligence and stating there is no imminent threat to our nation and that our action would precipitate a civil war.

Edwards now says Iran is the biggest threat to the world :( Will he be taken in in again?


"What's more, the terrorist threat against America is all too clear. Thousands of terrorist operatives around the world would pay anything to get their hands on Saddam's arsenal, and there is every possibility that he could turn his weapons over to these terrorists. No one can doubt that if the terrorists of September 11th had had weapons of mass destruction, they would have used them. On September 12, 2002, we can hardly ignore the terrorist threat, and the serious danger that Saddam would allow his arsenal to be used in aid of terror..."

"The path of confronting Saddam is full of hazards. But the path of inaction is far more dangerous. This week, a week where we remember the sacrifice of thousands of innocent Americans made on 9-11, the choice could not be starker."

[Nutmegger]

10. R&K

:thumbsup::kick: