Edwards: Full Withdrawal Not a Commitment

During last night’s Democratic Presidential debate, Dmocratic hopeful John Edwards made clear his stance on residual troops in Iraq.  When asked if he would commit to a full withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq by 2013, the end of his first term, Senator Edwards bluntly replied:

“I cannot make that commitment”

Edwards did say he would immediately begin withdrawing troops, but stressed the importance of leaving troops for the protection of the U.S. Embassy and humanitarian workers.

Debate transcript available at The New York Times