The War On Terror Is A "Bumper Sticker"

By Michelle Nichols
23 May 2007
23:41:32 GMT23
AlertNet

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.S.-led war on terrorism is "a bumper sticker, not a plan" that has weakened Washington's global standing, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said on Wednesday as he unveiled his defense policy plans.

...Edwards, who was the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate in 2004, said as president he would close the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, restore the ability of detainees to take legal action against unlawful imprisonment and ban torture.

"The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan," Edwards said. "It has damaged our alliances and weakened our standing in the world."

"By framing this as a 'war,' we have walked straight into the trap that the terrorists have set -- that we are engaged in some kind of clash of civilizations and a war against Islam," said the former senator from North Carolina.

"The reason there are terrorists actively engaged in what's happening in Iraq right now is because of the mess George Bush and his administration have created there," he added...