April 20, 2004

Nader calls for U.S. troop

withdrawal from Iraq

By NICK ANDERSON

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- Independent Presidential candidate Ralph

Nader called yesterday for a unilateral withdrawal of

U.S. troops and military contractors from Iraq, a

proposal that underscores the political threat his

campaign poses to Sen. John F. Kerry on the Democrats’

left flank.

While Nader praised Kerry’s emphasis on a multilateral

approach to Iraq, the consumer activist said the

presumptive Democratic nominee had failed to

articulate a policy that would appeal to antiwar

voters -- a charge that former Vermont Gov. Howard

Dean leveled at Kerry during the primary season.

Nader, speaking at a breakfast with reporters, pointed

to Kerry’s experience as a Vietnam veteran who turned

against that war in the early 1970s.

"I wish he would just repeat what he said when he was

27 years old before the Senate," Nader said. "Which

is, ‘How do you tell a soldier to die for a mistake?’"



He accused the Massachusetts senator of trying to

"out-Bush Bush" on Iraq.

Kerry has sought in recent days to stress that he,

like President Bush, would "stay the course" in Iraq

to ensure the country’s stability as U.S. overseers

negotiate a restoration of sovereignty.

Kerry has said he would support sending more U.S.

troops to Iraq if needed to quell violence. This week,

the Democratic candidate joined Bush in lamenting the

decision of new Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis

Rodriguez Zapatero to pull his country’s 1,300 troops

out of Iraq as soon as possible.

Countering Kerry and Bush, Nader proposed a plan to

replace U.S. troops in Iraq by developing an

international peacekeeping force under the auspices of

the United Nations, holding elections in Iraq as soon

as possible under international supervision, and

sending U.S. humanitarian aid to the country.

"The way to save U.S. and Iraqi lives and reverse the

escalating spiral of violence is for the United States

to go back home," Nader said.

He added: "The peace movement in this country’s going

to have a very interesting choice: whether they’re

going to basically support two pro-war candidates or

whether they’re going to support a muscular peace

candidate."

Nader insisted that he intended to train most of his

rhetorical fire at Bush, and said he planned to meet

with Kerry soon to develop a collaborative strategy to

oust the Republican from the White House.