One of the top three Democratic contenders for the presidency, Senator John Edwards, has recently taken honorable stands against escalation in Iraq and in favor of gradually withdrawing troops. While in the Senate, he had voted to authorize war with Iraq, but in late 2005, he courageously admitted publicly that his vote was a mistake.
However, in a recent speech delivered in Israel, Senator Edwards seemed to support threatening Iran militarily, saying "To ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, we need to keep ALL options on the table. Let me reiterate -ALL options must remain on the table [original emphasis]."
An attack - indeed even threatening to attack - would be a violation of international law, specifically the UN Charter.
Due to his stature as a former senator and vice-presidential candidate, Senator Edwards's failure to clearly reject an aggressive posture toward Iran has an impact. It tends to undermine growing efforts in Congress to stop the White House from attacking Iran.
We would like to respectfully ask Senator Edwards to reconsider and clarify his position now, before it is too late. I encourage those in the DailyKos community concerned about war with Iran to join us by signing this letter addressed to him.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/...
It is commendable that Senator Edwards is against the war in Iraq now. Surely he wishes he had opposed it when there was a chance to stop the invasion. He now has that chance with respect to Iran. I invite you to ask Senator Edwards to oppose an attack now and help prevent it.
UPDATE: This diary is not intended to be a hit-job on Senator Edwards, and I apologize to those who feel it has the appearance of one. He has taken many honorable positions and has spoken in favor of negotiation with Iran. We are going to do a similar petition to all major candidates, the goal ultimately being to help avert another war.