A Special Message from John Edwards

[Guest guest]

A Special Message from John Edwards

 

I was wrong.

 

I wrote these words about my vote to authorize the Iraq war in a *Washington

Post* op-ed piece and I want to share my views with you as well.

 

Almost three years ago, we went into Iraq to remove what we were told — and

many of us believed and argued — was a threat to America. But in fact we now

know that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction when our forces

invaded Iraq in 2003. The intelligence was deeply flawed and, in some cases,

manipulated to fit a political agenda.

 

It was a mistake to vote for this war in 2002. I take responsibility for

that mistake. It has been hard to say these words because those who didn't

make a mistake — the men and women of our armed forces and their families —

have performed heroically and paid a very dear price. It is not right, just

or fair that we made a mistake, but they pay for that mistake.

 

The world desperately needs moral leadership from America, and the

foundation for moral leadership is telling the truth.

 

While we can't change the past, we need to accept responsibility because a

key part of restoring America's moral leadership is acknowledging when we've

made mistakes or been proven wrong -- and to show that we have the

creativity and guts to make it right.

 

The argument for going to war with Iraq was based on intelligence that we

now know was inaccurate. The information the American people were hearing

from the President — and that I was being told by our intelligence community

— wasn't the whole story. Had I known this at the time, I never would have

voted for this war.

 

George Bush won't accept responsibility for his mistakes. Along with Dick

Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, he has made horrible mistakes at almost every

step: twisting intelligence to fit their pre-conceived views about Iraq's

threat; failed diplomacy; not going in with enough troops; not giving our

forces the equipment they need; not having a plan for peace.

 

Because of these failures, Iraq is a mess and has become a far greater

threat than it actually ever was. It is now a haven for terrorists, and our

presence there is draining the goodwill that our country once enjoyed,

diminishing our global standing. It has made fighting the global war against

terrorist organizations more difficult, not less.

 

The urgent question isn't how we got here, but what we do now. We have to

give our troops a way to end their mission honorably. That means leaving

behind a success, not a failure.

 

What is success? I don't think it is Iraq as a Jeffersonian democracy. I

think it is an Iraq that is relatively stable, largely self-sufficient,

comparatively open and free, and in control of its own destiny.

 

A plan for success needs to focus on three interlocking objectives: reducing

American presence; building Iraq's capacity; and getting other countries to

meet their responsibilities to help.

 

First, we need to remove the image of the imperialist America from the

landscape of Iraq. American contractors who have taken unfair advantage of

the turmoil in Iraq need to leave Iraq. If that means Halliburton

subsidiary, KBR, then KBR should go. Such departures, and the return of the

work to Iraqi businesses, would be a real statement about our hopes for the

new nation.

 

We also need to show Iraq and the world that we will not stay there forever.

We've reached the point where the large number of our troops in Iraq hurts,

not helps, our goals. Therefore, early next year, after the Iraqi elections

and a new government has been created, we should begin the redeployment of a

significant number of troops out of Iraq. This should be the beginning of a

gradual process to reduce our presence and change the shape of our

military's deployment in Iraq.

 

Most of these troops should come from National Guard or Reserve forces. That

will still leave us with enough military capability, combined with better

trained Iraqis, to fight terrorists and continue to help the Iraqis develop

a stable country.

 

Second, this redeployment should work in concert with a more effective

training program for Iraqi forces. We should implement a clear plan for

training and hard deadlines for certain benchmarks to be met. To increase

incentives, we should implement a schedule outlining that as we certify that

Iraqi troops are trained and equipped, a proportional number of U.S. troops

will withdraw.

 

Third, we must launch a serious diplomatic process that brings the world

into this effort. We should bring Iraq's neighbors and our key European

allies into a diplomatic process to get Iraq on its feet. It's not just in

America's security interest for Iraq to succeed, but the world's — and the

President needs to create a unified international front.

 

Too many mistakes have already been made to make this easy. Yet we must take

these steps to succeed. The American people, the Iraqi people and — most

importantly — our troops who have died or been injured there and those who

are fighting there today deserve nothing less.

 

America's leaders — all of us — need to accept the responsibility we each

carry for how we got to this place. Over 2,000 Americans have lost their

lives in this war; and over 150,000 are fighting there today. They and their

families deserve honesty from our country's leaders. And they also deserve a

clear plan for a way out.

 

*John*

http://www.oneamericacommittee.com/