Edwards, Reid continue to trade barbs over Iraq

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) denounced House Democrats’ new Iraq proposal Wednesday, drawing yet another rebuke from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) office.

Edwards began the day by harshly criticizing House Democrats’ proposed plan to give President Bush only half the funds he requested for the Iraq war, then vote again in July on whether to give him the rest.

{mosads} “This is not a compromise; it is a concession,” Edwards said in a statement. “This proposal may not give George Bush all the money he wants, but it gives him all the money he needs to continue his surge and keep the war going.”

Reid spokesman Rodell Mollineau said that while Reid “respects [Edwards’s] opinions on the war,” the former senator no longer has to worry about voting.

“We wish that he still had his seat in the Senate,” Mollineau said. “We need every vote we can get.
“At the same time, we’re legislating, and he’s campaigning.”

Bush threatened to veto the measure, prompting another response from Edwards, who was the only Democratic presidential candidate to speak out on the topic by press time yesterday.

“The president has just demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that he cannot be negotiated with, he cannot be compromised with,” Edwards said. “There is only one way to stop him — Congress must cut off funds to prolong the war.

“That’s the only real power [lawmakers] have to end this war. They passed a plan to support our troops and bring them home, and they should do it again.”