WASHINGTON, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Former Sen. John Edwards, a 2008 presidential contender, says Congress should have the courage to deny funding for the escalation of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Edwards spoke Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press," insisting Democrats have to "step up and show some backbone."
The North Carolina Democrat said he believes what President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney "are counting on is that what we'll do is we'll talk about it, we'll complain about it. We'll talk about how bad the escalation is but, at the end of the day, we'll go along. We cannot go along. We cannot enable this president to make another in a terrible series of bad mistakes."
Host Tim Russert asked, "So stop funding for the monies that would be paying for the surge?" "That would pay for the escalation, that's correct," Edwards said.
Edwards said as president he would start withdrawing 40,000 troops from Iraq, but monitor the situation on the ground to see if it's deteriorating. Some of the troops would come home, others would go to Kuwait and some would go to Afghanistan, where the Taliban is resurgent and heroin production is up, he said.
Edwards, who was the Democrats' vice presidential candidate in 2004, also said he would keep a naval presence in the Persian Gulf.
