Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards said Tuesday that at least some U.S. troops should remain in or near Iraq for the foreseeable future.
Although both reiterated their positions that the U.S. should quickly begin to withdraw troops from Iraq, they made clear that they did not support a total pullout.
“We may still have remaining vital national security interests that are important to America,” said Clinton, the junior senator from New York, to a labor forum in Washington. “We cannot let al Qaeda have a staging ground in Iraq.”
She added, “That doesn’t take a lot of American forces.”
Edwards, who spoke after Clinton, told the union members that U.S. forces must be stationed close to Iraq so they can re-enter the nation if necessary.
“As America pulls its combat troops out of Iraq, we’re going to have to maintain a presence in the region, which means we probably need a rapid deployment force in Kuwait,” the former senator from North Carolina said. “If the Jordanians would allow us to station troops there, we may want to put troops in Jordan.”
Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, who is also running for president, was not asked by moderator Chris Matthews whether the U.S. should maintain a presence in Iraq. But Obama seemed to suggest the U.S. should not be overly hasty in withdrawing forces.
“The best option, I believe, is to make certain that we begin a phased redeployment, that we’re as careful getting out as we were careless getting in,” he said.
“I am tired of meeting young women whose husbands are over there,” he added. “I am tired of meeting mothers who are crying on my shoulder at town hall meetings because their sons or daughters are not coming back. It is time for us to bring our troops home.”
All three candidates were warmly received at the forum, which was sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
Later in the day, Obama and Edwards also addressed the liberal “Take Back America” conference in Washington.
|
RELATED ARTICLE |
Clinton is scheduled to speak today at the conference, which booed her last year for opposing a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. She no longer opposes a timetable, as she made clear atthe labor union forum.
“If our president doesn’t end our involvement in Iraq, when I am president, I will,” she said.
