Edwards's Rejection of 'War on Terror' Draws GOP Retorts

washingtonpost.com
Edwards's Rejection of 'War on Terror' Draws GOP Retorts

A day after former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) derided the term "war on terror" as nothing more than a "bumper sticker" that should be replaced with a comprehensive plan to fight terrorism, Republican presidential candidates slammed him.

"The Democrats -- or at least some of them -- are in denial," former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said in a visit to New Hampshire, according to the New York Daily News. "In case you missed it -- and I guess this Democratic candidate doesn't remember it -- bin Laden declared war on us.

He added: "I don't get fuzzy and romantic about it. I understand that there are people in this world who want to come here and kill us."

In a visit to Jacksonville, Fla., former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said, "Remember that old Edmund Burke quote -- it's a famous quote -- 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' And that, I am afraid, is the boiled-down version of what John Edwards said, is that good men should do nothing."

And in a news conference, President Bush implicitly attacked Edwards's argument, saying: "This notion about how this isn't a war on terror, in my view, is naive. It doesn't -- it doesn't reflect the true nature of the world in which we live."

Edwards responded yesterday by saying that "George Bush has made America less safe and less respected in the world. The Republican candidates are now trying to double down on his failed foreign policy. They just don't get it. George Bush's strategy is a failure -- the threat of terrorism has increased. We don't need more political huffing and puffing, we need a smart strategy that uses American power to stop terrorists from hurting us and to stop people from becoming terrorists in the first place."