Reno: Elizabeth Edwards clarifies her husband's position on Iraq
September 30 -- At a town hall at the Carpenter’s Union in Reno, local peace activist and Peace Action West volunteer Lisa Stiller asked Elizabeth Edwards to clarify her husband’s comments in debate in New Hampshire on September 26. Edwards dismayed many peace voters when he said he could not guarantee that all the troops would be out of Iraq by the end of his term in 2013. (See the MSNBC website, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21013767/)
Remove all troops... within nine to ten months
Elizabeth Edwards said that her husband's current plan to
get of Iraq is to remove about 40-50,000
troops immediately, “National Guard and reservists who shouldn’t be there in
the first place.” She said that her husband would then work with the Joint
Chiefs of Staff to remove the rest of the troops within nine to ten months.
Except for one brigade to protect the embassy
She
said he would leave one brigade there to protect the embassy – about 3500
troops. She said that this force was needed to protect the embassy staff. “The
only way you can get all the troops out of there is to not have an embassy,” she
said.
She also said that there could also be some humanitarian
efforts by American charitable institutions that would require
protection.
Blackwater mercenaries need to go
Another community member asked about the Blackwater
mercenaries. “The mercenaries paid for by the American government need to come
home” Elizabeth Edwards said to wild applause.
“There should be no reason to have American forces there that are not governed by the rules of engagement,” she stated.
Reconstruction... hire Iraqis, don't import workers from Asia
She also talked about Bechtel and the reconstruction
efforts in Iraq. She said that we have been
employing Asians for those jobs, and that we have not been employing
Iraqis.
I like Elizabeth's positions on Iraq, unfortunately she is not the candidate.
Posted by: Lois Roberts | October 04, 2007 at 02:35 PM