Bill Richardson gave an extremely thoughtful speech yesterday at Georgetown University on the responsible path out of Iraq. Richardson also outlined a new foreign policy for the U.S., discussed our relations with Iran and explained need to restructure our armed forces.
On Iraq, Richardson stated, “If you haven't seen enough to know that we need to get all the troops out then you aren't watching the same war that I and the rest of America are seeing. I don't think just changing the mission is enough — we need to end the war.”
Everyone should watch Richardson's speech and hear the compelling case he makes for ALL U.S. troops to leave Iraq now. The video clip follows.
My message is part of the candidate series on MyDD. I am not a member of Richardson's campaign.
Richardson understands the essential truth about the U.S. intervention in Iraq today: “Our troops in Iraq are now the biggest obstacle to political change.”
This is where Clinton, Obama and Edwards fall gravely short on Iraq. They lack this fundamental insight. While they call for an end to the war in their stump speeches, when directly questioned each refuses to commit to bringing our troops home when they become President. They say our withdrawal depends upon the situation in Iraq when they become President. Moreover, they leave open the possibility that our troops will be stationed in Iraq until 2013.
Clinton in particular is playing a “game of dodgeball” on Iraq. She speaks of the need to “begin to end the war” yet will continue our military mission in Iraq.
If Clinton, Obama and Edwards understood that our troops are unwittingly perpetuating the conflict, they would not keep our troops in Iraq one day longer than necessary for their safe withdrawal. Instead as noted by Helen Thomas they are not providing leadership on the most critical issue of this election, the path out of Iraq:
President Bush has no better friends than the spineless Democratic congressional leadership and the party's leading presidential candidates when it comes to his failing Iraq policy. These Democrats seem to have forgotten that the American people want U.S. troops out of Iraq, especially since Bush still cannot give a credible reason for attacking Iraq after nearly five years of war.
Last week, at a debate in Hanover, N.H., the leading Democratic presidential candidates sang from the same songbook: Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, along with former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, refused to promise to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq by 2013, at the end of the first term of their hypothetical presidencies. Can you believe it?
When the question was put to Clinton, she reverted to her usual cautious equivocation, saying: “It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting.” Obama dodged, too: “I think it would be irresponsible” to say what he would do as president. Edwards, on whom hopes were riding to show some independence, replied to the question: “I cannot make that commitment.”
If you want to make an informed choice on whom to support for President and don't know much about Richardson or have never heard him give a speech, I highly encourage you to watch the video. Likewise if you have doubts about why the U.S. must bring every single troop home from Iraq now, listen to Richardson's arguments:
To learn about Richardson the person, his upbringing and what events shaped his life, watch a recent ABC news interview or read a summary of the interview.