Dodd to call on Dem candidates to back withdrawal bill

Sen. Chris Dodd (Conn.) is expected to call on his rival Democratic presidential hopefuls to support legislation that calls for a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008.

In a foreign-policy address scheduled to take place Wednesday evening at the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy in Des Moines, Iowa, Dodd is set to ask the 2008 candidates to endorse a measure from Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that would require the president to begin withdrawing troops within 120 days of the bill’s enactment.

“After more than 3,200 lives lost, tens of thousands wounded and $400 billion spent, it is time to bring an end to a war that at every turn has failed to make America safer,” Dodd is expected to say in the speech, according to a release issued Wednesday. “The hour is late. It is time to begin putting our country on a more secure path.”

Dodd is expected to tout his experience in a field of Democrats with comparatively less experience than he has.

“Like never before, we need a president who is ready to lead from day one,” Dodd plans to say. “There will not be a single day, a single moment for on-the-job training. Not one.”