John Edwards, one of the contenders for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, has come up with a new, dangerous plan.
Edwards is eager to outdo rivals Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama in promises to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq. To that end, he pledged that, if he is elected president, he will make it a priority to withdraw U.S. troops who are training Iraqi soldiers and police officers. Edwards, in making the pledge, noted that the trainers themselves require protection by other U.S. troops.
That is true enough — but it ignores the reality that failure to provide training to the Iraqis would result in chaos in that country, once U.S. troops are withdrawn. And the sooner Iraqis can be prepared to handle security on their own, the sooner American troops will not be needed in that country. In addition, failure to train Iraqis would make the withdrawal process itself more dangerous.
Edwards’ plan, then, is a recipe for disaster — and a clear ploy to attract voters from the extremist wing of his party.