Edwards Touts Plan to End Iraq Conflict

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards speaks to supporters at the Democratic Party of Georgia's 2007 Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, Thursday, May 17, 2007, in Atlanta. Edwards was the keynote speaker at the event. (AP Photo/Gregory Smith) (Gregory Smith - AP)

KEENE, N.H. -- Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday that Americans should speak out against the war in Iraq this Memorial Day weekend, renewing an anti-war call that has been criticized by the leader of the American Legion.

Edwards also said that all young people should serve their country, "not just poor kids who get sent to war."

The Edwards campaign launched a Web site, http://www.supportthetroopsendthewar.com, last weekend. His 10-point plan asks voters to greet veterans, send enlisted troops care packages and volunteer at local Veterans Administration hospitals.

"There's another thing we need to do as patriots, to serve the men and women who are serving this country in Iraq, and that is to speak out this weekend," said Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina and 2004 vice presidential nominee.

He said ending the war is key to repairing the damaged U.S. reputation abroad.

"America desperately needs to reclaim our moral position in the world, which has been so devastated," he said. "America has to be a force for good. ... The world thinks we're a bully and we're selfish."

At a later campaign appearance in Claremont, Edwards repeated his frequent call for the next president to promote patriotism beyond war. He also said the next president should be prepared to be a realist when dealing with the conditions in Iraq, even after U.S. troops leave.

"What do you do if genocide breaks out? Those are things we have to be prepared for," Edwards said in the courtyard of a senior center in Claremont. "The president of the United States should prepare a strategic plan for containment of a civil war."

As for the current president, Edwards said Congress should continue prodding President Bush with legislation that would start ending the war in Iraq.

"The fact that we have a bullheaded, stubborn president who thinks he can do nothing wrong makes it more important, more imperative that we stand our ground against this president," Edwards said during a town meeting on the Lebanon town square.

He said it's past time for voters to "be the change you believe in," borrowing from India's Mahatma Gandhi.

"We're not going to do it with baby steps," he said.