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 News from Around the Americas | December 2007 
Richardson Says He Will Bring Troops Home
 William Petroski - The Des Moines Register
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| | Democratic presidential hopeful, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson speaks with supporters at a Sportsmen for Richardson Wild Game Potluck Supper at the Northern Forest Heritage Park in Berlin, N.H. Saturday. (AP/Joel Page) |
Mount Vernon, Ia. - Democrat Bill Richardson is claiming the mantle of being his party's strongest peace candidate as the Iowa caucus presidential campaign heads into the home stretch.
Quickly ending the Iraq war is the key to repairing political damage caused by the conflict and restoring the American Dream, the New Mexico governor told about 200 people Monday at Cornell College.
"The day after I take the oath of office, and pledge to protect the Constitution of this country - I am going to tell our troops in Iraq: You have served magnificently. Now you are coming home."
Richardson said there is a "there is a profound difference on the war in Iraq" between his stance and the positions taken by Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and former Sen. John Edwards.
In a recent debate, all three of the front-runners declined to make a pledge to have all U.S. forces withdrawn from Iraq by 2013, said Richardson, who is hoping the Iraq issue will help him gain ground in the Iowa caucus race.
"I have made that pledge. In fact, I will get them all out in under a year," Richardson said. "If we still have troops in Iraq in 2013, the Iraqis sure won't think the war is over. And neither will the American people."
Those attending Richardson's speech had mixed reactions. Tim Tompas, 63 of Shellsburg is a U.S. Navy retiree who helped to launch missiles during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. He said he supported President Bush when the current Iraq war started in March 2003 because of the belief that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But said he now agrees with Richardson about pulling out U.S. combat troops from Iraq, although he doesn't oppose keeping a residual force there to train or support the Iraqi government.
"The Iraqis have to accept democracy and they have to take steps - that are sometimes uncomfortable - to be free," Tompas said. "Freedom means nothing unless you have worked for it."
Abigail Pedersen, 19, a sophomore studying history and art history at Cornell College, said Richardson needed to provide more details about what happens after the U.S. pulls its troops out of Iraq. "It's about how we are going to build peace and security within the country," said Pedersen.
Richardson told the audience that some naysayers maintain that the U.S. can't withdraw quickly from Iraq. But he said he disagreed, adding he has read briefings on the issue and talked with military experts, and both he and the American people are convinced it can be accomplished.
"We don't just wave goodbye," Richardson said, adding he would call a reconciliation conference in Iraq to implement accords to end the war. He would also establish an international donor conference and build a United Nations-sanctioned and predominantly Muslim peacekeeping force.
"The bottom line is this: Our presence in Iraq is blocking reconciliation by the parties and fueling hatred of the United States around the world. We are less safe staying in Iraq than leaving. We need to get our troops out in order to focus on our real security needs, and upon our needs at home."
The U.S. has spent $500 billion on the war already, Richardson said. But the war's true cost could be closer to $2 trillion if long-term costs for disability care for wounded veterans is included, he said.
That $2 trillion could have been used to provide universal health care, fully fund Social Security for generations, raise the salary of every American teacher, and help the nation achieve energy independence, Richardson said.
Obama: I've Fought Harder Against Special Interests
Thomas Beaumont - The Des Moines Register
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Spencer, Ia. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said today he was the most credible champion of curbing special interest influence in Washington.
The Illinois senator directly challenged rival John Edwards for the mantle during a campaign stop in Spencer, during a two-day swing through northwest Iowa.
"Nobody in this race has worked harder and been more successful at reducing the special interests' influence in Washington," than himself, Obama told more than 200 people, including a number of high school students, at Spencer High School.
"Senator Edwards, who is a good guy, he's been talking a lot about 'I'm going to fight the lobbyists and the special interests in Washington,' " Obama said about Edwards, a former North Carolina senator. "Well, the question you have to ask is: Were you fighting for (citizens) when you were in the Senate?"
Obama pointed to campaign disclosure legislation he supported in the Illinois Senate. He also referred to legislation he backed in the U.S. Senate which barred lobbyists from providing meals, gifts or providing transportation to members of Congress. The latter was passed after Edwards left the Senate in 2005.
Edwards has said he would bar corporate lobbyists from talks about health care reform if he were president. He has also criticized Obama for being willing to allow lobbyists from drug and insurance companies to participate in discussions on expanding health care coverage.
"Actually, it's John Edwards who rejected PAC and lobbyist contributions from day one," Edwards campaign spokesman Dan Leistikow said. "He's the only candidate in the race who has never taken a dime of their money. And in the Senate, he took on the lobbyists and special interests head on by leading the charge to pass a patients' bill of rights through the Senate."
Obama has said he would convene public talks with the various groups affected by health care, including medical professionals, hospital administrators, patient advocates and insurance and drug companies.
Obama plans to spend the day in northwest Iowa, with stops also planned in Storm Lake, Cherokee, Le Mars and Sioux City.
He plans to end his 22-city bus tour of Iowa Tuesday in Des Moines. |
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