John Edwards doesn’t believe there’s a “global war on terror,” at least not in the simple-show-of-hands sense.
This is something a lot of Democrats say privately — and something mainstream pols everywhere else in the world say publicly — but it contests a Bush administration premise in a way very few American politicians have been comfortable in the last five and a half years.
His stance — though it doesn’t seem to have been all that deliberate — matches the recent comments of a prominent British politician. It’s the most direct challenge to the Bush administration’s whole worldview that I can recall from a leading Democrat.
Edwards aide David Ginsberg confirmed that the former North Carolina senator had not raised his hand in response to Brian Williams’ question,”Do you believe there is such a thing as a global war on terror?”
He also noted that Edwards elaborated later in the debate.
“I believe — and this goes to the question you asked earlier, just a few minutes ago — global war on terror. I think there are dangerous people and dangerous leaders in the world that America must deal with and deal with strongly, but we have more tools available to us than bombs. And America needs to use the tools that are available to them so that these people who are sitting on the fence, who terrorists are trying to recruit, the next generation, get pushed to our side, not to the other side. We’ve had no long-term strategy, and we need one, and I will provide one.”
This report done by the Politico based on another report by MSNBC