Statement of Governor Bill Richardson on the MoveOn.org Advertisement

ESTHERVILLE, IA-- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today released the following statement on the advertisement run by MoveOn.org in the New York Times on Monday:

"Yesterday, I responded to a reporter's question on MoveOn's ad. I said that I did not agree with the ad's premise and that the generals were acting as good civil servants; their job is to support the President. It is because of the failure of civilian leadership, notably President Bush, that our troops are mired in a civil war in Iraq.

"Today, the organization Freedom Watch issued its own ad to distract and discredit MoveOn. The Freedom Watch ad is a poor attempt at practicing the politics of division rather than listening to the American people and bringing this war to an end. We should not be focused on rhetorical excesses-- we should focus on the brave soldiers who are dying in the midst of another country's civil war.

"I share MoveOn's frustration and I understand how its members feel. They were right about this war from the beginning. The only way that we are going to end this war is to get every last troop out of Iraq: my plan is the only one of the major candidates' to do exactly that.

"I call on MoveOn's members to join me in demanding answers from the other Democratic Presidential candidates. I have asked Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama how many troops they will leave behind in Iraq. My answer is zero. Yet Clinton, Edwards, and Obama still refuse to answer this question."