This is from a Senate Statement on May 20, 2003.
"Last fall, many of us who supported the use of military force in Iraq warned President Bush about this problem. We argued that the United States needed to put the same amount of energy, effort and creativity into planning for what to do after Saddam was gone.
We supported the use of force to ensure that Iraq complied with its commitments to the international community. But we also called on the president to carefully plan for a new Iraq - a prosperous democracy at peace with itself and its neighbors.
The president obviously did not heed our advice. The administration did not make adequate plans for the situation which now threatens the success of our mission in Iraq -- and in some instances, it apparently didn't plan at all. It now tries to explain away its failures as the "untidy" realities of postwar Iraq. Rather than make excuses, the administration must act before it undermines all that we have accomplished."
The Edwards plan for winning the peace in Iraq, released at the same time, is as follows.
"Before the Bush administration "undermines all that we have accomplished," Senator Edwards said the United States should:
Involve our allies, the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in establishing a free Iraqi government with legitimacy in the region and around the world.
Create a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force to ensure that the Iraqi people live in a place that is safe and secure.
Ensure that the Iraqi people - not some puppet government - shape the nation's future under a government that reflects the nation's diversity.
Help develop a prosperous economy by making clear that Iraq's vast oil reserves will not be exploited by the United States or others."
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