MTP Transcript for Feb. 4, 2007

SEN. EDWARDS: We are at a critical time in American history. The last thing we should be worried about is how politicians react and how their feelings are hurt. What we ought to be focused on is what needs to be done about this moral issue about the war. It’s stopping George Bush from escalating this war. And I think all of us have a personal responsibility, if we believe, for example—that’s—and that’s what the subject was that you were talking about—if we believe that it is morally wrong to escalate this war, and it is strategically wrong to escalate war. What I have said is it is not enough to give speeches, to talk to political pundits, to pass nonbinding resolutions. We have to step to the plate and show some courage and do what’s right on behalf of these men and women who are serving in Iraq and on behalf of that—people in that region of the world. The country and the world is owed that from us. It’s at such a critical point in America’s history that we have to stand up and show some backbone.

MR. RUSSERT: If you were in the Senate, would you vote to cut off funding for the war?

SEN. EDWARDS: Well, first of all, I’m not running for the Senate, I’m running for president of the United States. What I would do is, is say we’re not going to fund an escalation of this war. That’s what I think we should do. I would not cut off funding for the men and women who are part of our troops and serving in, in, in Iraq. Now, we know that a significant number—in fact, I think most of the troops who are part of the surge—and by the way, there was a disturbing report in the last couple of days that, you know, 20,000-plus troops may turn into 40,000 troops, because there’s 20,000-plus combat troops who will have to be supported. I think that’s—will be very surprising to most of America who heard the president speak about this. But we know most of them are already there, and what’s actually going to happen is, in Anbar province where the Marines are, around Baghdad where the Army is, their deployments are going to be extended. And these are men and women who are already on their second, third—many of them—their second and third deployment. They deserve to come home. Their families deserve for them to come home.

And what I’m saying is that the men and women in Congress who have a vote, and those of us who have a, a platform to talk about this nationally, we have a responsibility to those men and women. And I, I actually believe that what the president and 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—in a terrible series of bad mistakes.

MR. RUSSERT: So stop funding for the monies that would be paying for the surge?

SEN. EDWARDS: That would pay for the escalation, that’s correct.

MR. RUSSERT: Another opponent in the Democratic race for the presidency is Barack Obama of Illinois. In October of 2002, he was a state senator in the Illinois legislature. He came out against the war, and I want to share his words with you and our viewers. “ I know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military is a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

“ I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda. I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.”  His judgment was on the money.

SEN. EDWARDS: Yeah, he—he’s correct. Now, I will say, he wasn’t burdened, like a lot of us with the information that we were receiving on the Intelligence Committee. And as members of the United States Senate, we were getting very intimate, detailed information about what was actually happening in Iraq. Senator Obama, I think, you—what’d you say?--was a state senator at the time. So he obviously wasn’t, wasn’t in the Congress and wasn’t part of the—of the decision making. But a lot of those predictions turned out to be true.

MR. RUSSERT: But why shouldn’t voters in Democratic primaries say, ‘On the big issue of the war, Obama was right, Edwards was wrong’?

SEN. EDWARDS: I was wrong. They should say that. And the question becomes,

‘Who’s best suited to be president of the United States? Who has the depth,

the maturity, the judgment to be president of the United States?’ And what I

would say to anybody is I take full responsibility for what I did, I should be

held accountable for that, but I do think it matters when you’re willing to be

open and honest with voters about what you’ve done. I think it’s really

important that the next president of the United States—and I’m not

criticizing anybody, certainly not Senator Obama. But I think it’s really

important that the next president of the United Sates be a good, decent,

honorable human being who’s open and honest with the country because that is

the only way we’re going to re-establish trust between the American people and

the president. And I also think it’s going to be really important to

re-establishing trust between America and the world, because the president is,

in effect, the personification of America. And when the president, what I believe—one of the things I do believe the president needs to do is, in the first 100 days, travel the world, not just meet with leaders, but speak to the people of the world the way great American presidents have in the past. The famous John Kennedy “ I am a Berliner”  speech is an example. And for that to work and for us to spread a message that America doesn’t tolerate diversity, we embrace diversity, different cultures, different faith beliefs—it’s the heart of who we are—that spokesperson is going to have to be somebody that the rest of the world looks up to and respects.

MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been open and honest about her support of the war in Iraq?

SEN. EDWARDS: I don’t know the answer to that question, honestly. I, I can’t—I can’t—I don’t know what’s inside her, her head and her heart about this. I can’t tell whether there are political calculations going on. I just don’t know. But I think, as we go, that’s what campaigns are about. I have a high opinion of Senator Clinton. She’s done a remarkable job as a U.S. senator, but being president of the United States is a different test. And I think, through the course of this campaign, all of us, not just me or Senator Clinton or Senator Obama, but all the Democratic candidates and all the Republican candidates are going to be scrutinized for whether they have the character to be president of the United States. And they should be.

MR. RUSSERT: You mentioned the vote in the Senate, and this is what you said about it. “ That nonbinding resolution against Iraq troop surge favored by Barack Obama? ‘Useless,’ said Edwards. ‘Exactly like a child standing in the corner and stomping his feet.’”

SEN. EDWARDS: True.

MR. RUSSERT: So the Democrats shouldn’t vote for the resolution against the president’s surge.

SEN. EDWARDS: Oh no, it’s fine to vote for the resolution, but the—complaining at this historic moment in American history is not enough. I mean, we won the election. We’re now in charge of the House and the Senate. We have—we have the power to actually do something about this escalation. I totally understand that there are political consequences from, from showing that strength and courage. But I think it’s necessary. I think it’s what America needs from us.

MR. RUSSERT: But if Democrats voted to cut off funding for the troops who are part of the surge, the accusation would be they’re not supporting the men and women.

SEN. EDWARDS: But there’s a very easy way to do this. In fact, I saw you questioning Senator Kennedy on the show about this. Senator Kennedy actually has a bill that, that—what it says is, in order—if it’s passed into law—in order for more troops above the levels that are there now to be put into Iraq, the president would first have to come to Congress—and they use their funding authority as the basis for this—would have to come to Congress and get their permission. And I don’t believe the Congress would give him that permission under the circumstances. So there—there’s an easy, straightforward way to do this, but we, we have to have the strength to do it.

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