John Edwards on Countdown: End Outsourcing of Military

John Edwards was on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night, and he called for an end to the outsourcing of military work to contractors like Blackwater.

The answer to this is to get American troops out of Iraq, which is why I'm committed to getting our combat troops out of Iraq, stopping combat missions, doing it the right way. But these things that are going on with Blackwater, they worry all Americans. I hear it everywhere I go. You know, people wonder, first of all, why a company whose executives gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Bush and to Republicans are getting these no bid contracts with hundreds of millions of dollars. There's something wrong with this picture.

Edwards also attacked his main rival for the nomination, Hillary Clinton, for her plan to continue combat missions in Iraq, and for her yes vote on the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which takes us one step closer to war with Iran.

I respect Senator Clinton, but we disagree about this. I think if you're going to continue combat missions in Iraq, that is a form of war, and I think the war needs to be ended. I think the combat missions need to be stopped. I think our combat troops ought to be out of Iraq, so there's a very clear choice for Democratic voters. One candidate, Senator Clinton, will continue combat missions. She's said that repeatedly now. I will end combat missions. If the Democratic voters want a candidate for president who wants to continue combat missions, they should vote for her. If, on the other hand, they want this war actually ended, they should vote for me.

Snip...

What we need to do is continue to make clear to voters that they have choices. They have a different choice between me and Senator Clinton on Iraq. They have a different choice on Iran. I mean, I listened to Senator Clinton's explanation for voting for a Senate resolution that declared the Iranian National Guard a terrorist organization, which to me is the equivalent of giving George Bush the authority of the first step to go to war in Iran. I'm against that. And there's another choice that voters have, and we want voters to know what those choices are.