Edwards urges Congress to block Iraq escalation (says escalation is "huge mistake")

Edwards urges Congress to block Iraq escalation
By Mike Glover--Associated Press
Saturday, January 20, 2007
----
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP)--Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said Saturday that Congress should use the power of the pursestrings to block President Bush's plans to increase the number of troops in Iraq.
"My view is that the escalation of the war in Iraq is a huge mistake, and that those members of Congress who are opposed to the escalation have a responsibility to use their power to not fund the escalation," said Edwards, who spoke in an interview with The Associated Press and later at a forum on the war at the University of Iowa.
His call is far more aggressive than what's being debated in Congress, where Democrats grabbed control in the last election. Congressional leaders have drafted a resolution declaring that plans to increase the number of troops is against the nation's interest. However, the resolution is nonbinding and President Bush is free to ignore it.
In urging Congress to be more aggressive, Edwards is challenging rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination, including Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Kerry.
(...)
Before he left the Senate, Edwards voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, but has said since that he regrets that vote and he's become a leading critic of the war.
"Most voters respect a leader who will take responsibility for what they've done," he said.
----
Read the rest here.

John Edwards for President 2008