Edwards Statement on Bush Comments on "Global War On Terror" (Great statement, please read)

Edwards Statement on Bush Comments on "Global War On Terror"
John Edwards for Presidnet
Thursday, May 24, 2007
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Chapel Hill, North Carolina – Senator John Edwards released the following statement today about the latest comments made by President Bush.

"There's a word for doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. George Bush has made America less safe and less respected in the world. And the Republican presidential candidates, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, are competing to see who can be the bigger, badder George Bush. Is that really what America wants? When I'm president of the United States, I will make America more safe.

As I said yesterday, the core of the Bush presidency is a political doctrine they call the Global War on Terror. They use it to justify all the worst abuses of this administration – from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to the assault on civil liberties to the war in Iraq. The one thing it doesn't do is the one thing it's supposed to do - by the Administration's own admission, the threat of terrorism is up, not down.

Let's be crystal clear – the president of the United States has an absolute responsibility to stop terrorists wherever they are, with whatever it takes.

But that's not what the Bush terror doctrine does. The Bush terror doctrine says we're going to pursue our ideological agenda without regard to whether it works and without regard to the will of the American people. And if you oppose us, if you challenge us, if you disagree with us, you're soft on terror, you're not a patriot.

It's a political sledgehammer plain and simple. And the most insidious part about it is that it does not work.

Abu Ghraib has not made us safer.

Wiretapping Americans has not made us safer.

The war in Iraq has not made us safer.

We don't need a political sledgehammer; we need a comprehensive strategy to protect America from 21st century threats. We need to build a strong mission-focused military and restore our moral leadership around the world. That's the vision I laid out yesterday."

http://johnedwards.com/news/headlines/20070524-bush-comments/

Enough with congresscritter candidates. Frankly, they all appear comprimised in some fashion, some more than others. Brains rotted by inside-the-beltway fungus or something.

"Abu Ghraib has not made us safer.

"Wiretapping Americans has not made us safer.

"The war in Iraq has not made us safer."

And this list could be vastly expanded.

For example: Stacking the Justice Department with Corrupt Christofascist Cronies has not brought about any justice.

bring the troops home. This will happen.

The occupation of Iraq started on shrub's orders. It continues on shrub's orders. It will end on shrub's orders.

GOP insistence in calling for victory is a bumper sticker. When asked to define victory GOP can't.

Declare victory today. Bring troops home now!

"Let's be crystal clear – the president of the United States has an absolute responsibility to stop terrorists wherever they are, with whatever it takes."

Let's not make the mistake of lumping all terrorists together and making it the business of the United States to intervene in every local conflict. That's probably not what Edwards meant, but I think it is a very important distinction to make. There are many disparate groups -- some Sunni, some Shiite -- that are labeled as terrorists, but they do not all share a common cause and do not all pose a threat to the US. We make more enemies when we intervene in the internal affairs of other nations.

We must dispell the public perception that we are up against some kind of monolithic Islamic threat, because that feeds right into the Republican "Global War On Terror" mantra that will be the main theme of their 2008 presidential candidate.

The GWOT theme was used for justifying the invasion of Iraq and the Rethuglicans will continue using it for maintaining their hawkish policies and the frame they have built around their supposed advantage in national security matters.

The last thing I want to see is the Democrats trying to outdo the Rethugs in this regard.

Edwards' "wherever they are, with whatever it takes." statement is anything but "crystal clear." Terrorists can be found in just about every Middle Eastern country. Does Edwards mean that we should militarily strike every suspected terrorist site?