WASHINGTON — Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader called Monday 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 its 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. But his remarks about Kerry included some assessments likely to sting a Democrat who was hoping to marshal a unified party against Bush in the fall.
