Posted on 10/10/2004 12:17:57 PM PDT by wagglebee
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Sunday disputed a White House assertion that it was right to topple Saddam Hussein even if he had no illegal weapons because he posed a future threat.
The North Carolina senator, appearing on several television news programs, said Saddam's intention to eventually gather weapons of mass destruction was one of dozens of such threats.
"There are lots of threats waiting to happen all over the world," Edwards said. "That doesn't mean that that justifies invading a country."
Edwards was responding to U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who told "Fox News Sunday" that President Bush was "absolutely" correct to have launched the invasion of Iraq even if they had known, as they do now, that the former Iraqi president had no stockpiles of chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
Saddam was "a major and growing threat to the international community" with "an insatiable appetite for weapons of mass destruction," Rice said.
"It was time to take care of him. And this president, post-September 11th, was not going to let threats continue to gather," she added. "It was only a matter of time."
The two continued a debate that has dominated the U.S. presidential campaign in recent weeks and intensified with the final report of chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer, who concluded Iraq had no unconventional weapons -- a main rationale for going to war.
"You know, the Bush administration's explanation is: 'We invaded a country because at some point in the future they might get weapons of mass destruction?' ... I mean, the bottom line is, this is a convoluted logic to try to justify in hindsight what we now know wasn't true," Edwards said on CNN's "Late Edition."
Bush says his Democratic rival, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, agreed in the spring of 2003 it was the right decision to invade Iraq but now says it was the wrong war. Kerry has said repeatedly that Bush rushed to war without a strong coalition or a plan to win the peace.
"We did not authorize this president to make the mess that he has now made in Iraq," Edwards said on NBC's "Meet the Press."
The first-term senator also noted that of the three countries singled out by Bush as part of an "axis of evil" -- Iraq, North Korea and Iran -- "you know, we invaded the one of those three that doesn't have nuclear weapons."
Edwards predicted the situation in Iraq, where a violent insurgency has raged for more than a year after Saddam was ousted, "and whether the president's going to level with people about that ... will drive the decision on November 2nd."
I wish Rice could do more campaigning...
She's so impressive.
Waffling LIARS...ANYTHING TO GET INTO THE WHITE HOUSE...ANYTHING.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1240901/posts
Edwards comments on Hardball 10/13/03
Little Green Footballs ^
I'd like to see Condi and Silk pony toe to toe.
Condi would take him apart
I think its very possible that Rice may run for Prez in 2008. Imagine Rice running against "Ruler of the World" wannabe Hillary Clinton..
http://hometown.aol.com/joevberry333/
Edwards, you're a candy-ass wimp who knows nothing
of international politics. All you know is how to sue
doctors and drive them out of business. I hope we will
have heard the last of you on Nov. 3, when you can just
go back to being AWOL from the Senate.
Edwards said that Saddam was the most serious and imminent of all threats the US faced! Does his flip-flop appear in this article? Of course not.
Bosnia, Bosnia....darn, I know I've heard of that country from somewhere.
Edwards/Kerry would have prefered we wait,
until ALL three Axis of evils had the bomb!
John Edwards--isn't he that psychic guy on TV?
Posted on 07/09/2004 12:37:23 AM EDT by adam_az
Edwards urged military action on Iraq instead of North Korea with John King, who was subbing for Wolf Blitzer.......
KING: Senator Edwards, when discussing the North Korean problem, the president wants to confront the regime, deal with its own missiles program plus its exports. There is not a reasonable military option when it comes to North Korea is there?
EDWARDS: Well, I don't think we're focused on military options right now, John.
I think it was important, in answer to your last question, it was important for the president to go to the region. I think he did help alleviate some of the concerns that people in that area had about this "axis of evil" comment.
But I do think that the more serious question going forward is, what are we going to do? I mean, we have three different countries that, while they all present serious problems for the United States -- they're dictatorships, they're involved in the development and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction -- you know, the most imminent, clear and present threat to our country is not the same from those three countries. I think Iraq is the most serious and imminent threat to our country.
And I think they -- as a result, we have to, as we go forward and as we develop policies about how we're going to deal with each of these countries and what action, if any, we're going to take with respect to them, I think each of them have to be dealt with on their own merits.
And they do, in my judgment, present different threats. And I think Iraq and Saddam Hussein present the most serious and most imminent threat.
How many "UN" resolutions, over how many years, were there that only got as far as Saddams middle finger?
How many inspectors were booted out of Iraq?
How many missiles fired upon US aircraft, monitoring the NO FLY ZONE over how many years?
Stand back UN boys it's time for the "MEN" to resolve this situation!
Watch how it's done and learn!
That's what it says...
Condi was awesome today on Fox Sunday. Hadn't seen her in awhile. She's always impressive and was again today.
I saw Johnny Boy on Fox News Sunday today, he was on defense most of the time and looked more like 'deer in the headlights' than I can ever recall seeing Quayle.
Certainly out of his league.
Way over his head.
It happens. :-)
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