Iowa’s out-going governor — Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack — is “challenging” another candidate’s contention that the U.S. need to send more troops to Iraq. Arizona Senator John McCain is shown in many public opinion polls to be the leading contender for the Republican party’s 2008 presidential nomination. McCain has said it’s time to send more U.S. troops into Iraq to stamp out the insurgency and stabilize the country.
Vilsack, who launched his campaign for the White House at the end of November, says McCain’s plan would “make a big mistake even bigger” — and make the fledgling Iraqi government even more dependent on the U.S. Vilsack is lambasting President Bush, too, saying his administration’s “military and diplomatic failures in Iraq have recklessly endangered America’s national interests.”
Vilsack says it’s time to bring more countries into the rebuilding process in Iraq. Vilsack outlined his ideas in a letter he sent to Senator McCain earlier today (Monday).