Edwards Supports War Oppostion

Jan. 15, 2007 — -- President Bush is telling critics in Congress that he will push ahead with his plan to increase troops to Iraq and that he won't allow Democrats to stop him. With their own internal divisions, though, could the Democrats even mount a serious challenge to the plan?

Democrats are walking a very fine line here. They want to voice opposition to the war without having a negative impact on the military. Already, the first of the 21,500 additional troops have started to arrive in Baghdad.

Bush said he is determined not to let Democrats halt the flow of forces. "They could try to stop me from doing it, but I've made my decision and we're going forward," he said on "60 Minutes."

But will the Democrats try to stop him? Depends on who you ask.

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, told ABC News today that he supports measures to halt Bush's plan.

"The problem is if you continue to fund it, all you're doing is enabling George Bush to make another enormous mistake, and there already have been far too many mistakes in Iraq," Edwards said.

Likely presidential contender Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was not so definitive on a trip to Iraq this past weekend.

"I don't know exactly what we will be voting on, but the reason that I'm here is to make an assessment, to try to figure out what's the responsible position to take," she said.

That is the quandary: Congress could go after the $100 billion supplemental budget that the White House will request next month and try to stop the second wave of troops. But if they do so, Democrats ultimately might pay a heavy political price.

"If Democrats end up doing something that looks like they are cutting off supplies for our troops at a moment when they are in battle, that won't be forgotten for generations," said policy analyst Norm Ornstein.

There is also no unanimity on an alternative to the president's plan.

The only thing they agree on is that they don't like the president's plan, which is why you will likely see just a symbolic resolution against it.