John Edwards will make a foreign policy speech about Iran today at 10 am at the Iowa Memorial Union's Richey Ballroom. I wonder if he'll have anything to say about Pakistan?
The Gazette has this story
There's no doubt in John Edwards' mind that Iran is "extremely dangerous," but he rejects President Bush "preventive war doctrine" and in a speech at the University of Iowa this morning, Nov. 5 will call for re-engaging with Iran to, ultimately, achieve full diplomatic relations.
And unlike his rival for the 2008 presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton, he will strongly oppose a resolution she voted for declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization, The resolution she backed "will ratchet up tensions and provide Bush and Cheney with the excuse they need to attack Iran," Edwards will say in what his campaign is calling a major foreign policy address at 10 a.m. in the Richie Ballroom of the Iowa Memorial Union.
"Just as George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the neo-cons used 9/11 to get into Iraq five years ago, they're trying to use Iraq today to get into Iran," according to Edwards. "And we have to stop them. This is a critical moment."
As president, Edwards will get rid of the dangerous "preventive war" doctrine and instead rely on proven national security strategies including overwhelming deterrent strength and retaining every option to address imminent attacks.
He believes a multilateral strategy of tough new sanctions and incentives will defuse Iran and force President Ahmadinejad, the Ayatollah Khameini, and the mullahs to realize their nuclear ambitions and that support of terrorism will only put the Iranian nation on a fast track to isolation, according to a background paper put out by Edwards' staff Sunday night.
Edwards will offer a five-point plan to:
End the "preventive war" doctrine that holds that America should shoot first and only ask questions later. Edwards will use force only as a last resort.
Use bolder and more targeted economic sanctions to show Iran it cannot buck the will of the international community without destroying its ability to be modern, advanced nation it so desperately wants to become.
Use incentives to convince Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program and support of terrorism.
Re-engage with Iran by expanding low-level talks between government official on both sides in a neutral country.
Re-engage with other major nations on the challenge of Iran. Edwards would include Russia and China on the problem of Iran's nuclear weapons program. He would also convene a conference with Great Britain, France and Germany, along with Russian and China and Iran to find a way out of the stalemate created by the Bush policy toward Iran.
"This is a critical moment," according to Edwards. "As a nation, we stand today at a fork in the road with Iran. We have a real choice about the direction we'll take. One path will replay the last seven years. It leads toward a dark future of belligerence, aggression, and war. We need a new direction — one that will defuse the Iran threat, rather than aggravate it, and that will make America safer, not make the world more dangerous,"
1 comment:
We need to keep an eye on Iran. I read an interesting commentary. I had to read it twice, the first time I thought the author was advocating attacking Iran, then I realized he is trying to get us to keep an eye out.
http://joeleonardi.wordpress.com/2007/11/03/iran-%e2%80%94-the-next-great-threat-too-much-like-the-last/
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