Follows the transcript form "CNN Late Edition" 1/7/2007 (from:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0701/07/le.01.html)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to "Late Edition." I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. He's run for president before, and he's now running for president again. And he's staking out a rather unique position among the Democratic candidates.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich is joining us now, live from Cleveland. Congressman, welcome back to "Late Edition."
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D), OHIO: Hi, Wolf. Great to be on your show. Thank you very much.
BLITZER: The unique aspect of your presidential ambition is that you want to stop funding this war in Iraq. You don't want additional funds to be appropriated. Is that right?
KUCINICH: Well, the money's there right now to bring the troops home. And I think that, given a choice between using the money to bring the troops home or using the money to continue the war, I think the American people want a process to begin that will bring our troops home.
And then we need to announce we're going to close those bases. And at that point, we can begin a political process.
Wolf, I also know the American people want to see the security for the Iraqi civilians. So what we need to do is, as we announce that we're going to withdraw, we also enable a political process to be started that begins the transition to an international security force.
BLITZER: I interviewed Nancy Pelosi, the new speaker, shortly after the Democrats won the majority back in November. She made it clear she doesn't support cutting the funding for the troops for the war effort. Listen to this exchange we had.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: Not really. We would never cut...
BLITZER: Why isn't it on the table?
PELOSI: Well, because our troops are in harm's way. They have been sent there, whether you agree with the policy or not, and I certainly did not agree with the resolution to go to war, we would not withhold our funding for the troops there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Today on CBS, she was suggesting, though, that for additional troops, there would have to be a supplemental budget request and she's not exactly sure that she would go ahead with that.
Where do you stand on this notion, though, that if you cut the funds for the war you're going to, in the end, hurt the U.S. troops?
KUCINICH: Well, first of all, we all support our troops. And I believe the best way to support the troops is to bring them home. Wolf, there's money there, right now, we can use to start the process of bringing our troops home, and money that can be used to start the process of bringing in an international security force.
But we have to make a determination that we're not going to let this war continue.
If the Congress were to go ahead and approve the supplemental that's due in the spring, this war would continue through the end of Bush's term. I don't think the American people want that.
I think the American people, in November, put in a Democratic Congress so that we as Democrats would take a new direction.
And while I certainly strongly support Nancy Pelosi for speaker and I voted for her, I know that what we're looking for as Americans is a new direction. That's what I'm offering.
I'm letting the American people know that it's inconsistent to say that you want to -- that you oppose the war and you continue to fund it. So I've taken a very strong position on this. Money's there to bring the troops home.
BLITZER: So if there's an addition $100 billion or so request, you'll definitely vote against it?
KUCINICH: Well, that's true. But what I'm saying is, let's determine that we're going to end the occupation, that we're going to withdraw our troops, that we're going to close the bases.
That establishes the preconditions for a political settlement. That's when we can go to the international community and rally the Muslim nations to help provide for a security force so we can protect the Iraqi people and transition them to a program of reconciliation, reconstruction, reparations, securing their oil assets.
These are all things that are part and parcel of the Kucinich plan, which I'll be announcing tomorrow in New York City as part of my effort to help the Democrats craft a united position that can enable us to respond to the will of the American people.
BLITZER: Here's what the president says would happen if the policy was as you want it to be. Listen to this. He wrote this in The Wall Street Journal.
"If democracy fails and the extremists prevail in Iraq, America's enemies will be stronger, more lethal, and emboldened by our defeat. Leaders in both parties understand the stakes in this struggle. We now have the opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war."
Basically, he's suggesting, and his supporters are suggesting, you want to just cut and run and admit failure.
KUCINICH: Well, the president's trapped by his policy, and we need to help the president. There are Democrats and Republicans alike who are uniting around an alternative. And that's why I'm bringing an alternative forward.
I'm saying what many generals are saying. There's no military solution. Now, if there's no military solution, why in the world would we want to leave our troops there?
We need to begin a political solution. That political solution starts when we determine that we're going to withdraw, that we're going to end the occupation, that we're going to close the bases, that we're going to let the Iraqis handle their own oil assets, not try to privatize oil.
And the Kucinich plan that I'm introducing tomorrow is going to provide for that movement. And if you're going to eventually have some kind of democracy in Iraq, you can't do it under the hand of a U.S. occupation because it's antithetical.
So the president has had four years for his policies to work. They haven't. They've shown to be a failure. Unfortunately, they're predicated on lies.
So let's rescue not only this president but our nation and the world from these failed policies. Let's end this chapter of Iraq and the instability that our policies have brought not only to Iraq but to the region and the world.
BLITZER: When you announced that you want to be president of the United States on December 12, you said this, among other things. I'll play a little clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUCINICH: I fully expect to win because...
(APPLAUSE)
I fully expect to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You've got some formidable Democratic potential rivals, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, John Kerry, maybe even Al Gore, down the road. What do you bring that they don't bring?
KUCINICH: What I bring is a record of having been right about what happened in Iraq. You know, I'm the only one who not only has voted against authorization, but voted against each and every appropriation that has kept us there. I think that every member of Congress knows that if you oppose the war, you don't vote for the appropriations.
But it's not only that. I'm not only opposed to what's happening in Iraq, Wolf. I'm opposed to the use of war as an instrument of policy. We're in a whole new world where the world is interconnected and interdependent. We need to explore our capacity for diplomacy, for what Franklin Roosevelt called the science of human relations. People are looking for leadership with foresight. I've demonstrated that with courage. I've demonstrated that with an ability to be able to take a stand and to be right. And I've shown that.
But I also have shown a capacity to work with people on both sides of the aisle. And that's what we did in putting together a coalition with Neil Abercrombie, Walter Jones and Ron Paul for a bipartisan coalition to take a new direction in Iraq.
We need to unite this nation. The American people want a steady hand. They want someone who isn't on a war path. I think that my candidacy offers that. And it's going to be distinguished -- and it's distinguished from many of the other fine Democrats who are offering their candidacies.
BLITZER: Dennis Kucinich, Democratic candidate from Ohio. Congressman, thanks very much for coming in.
KUCINICH: Wolf, thank you very much. I look forward to speaking with you again. Thank you.
BLITZER: All right. Appreciate it.
And coming up next, we'll get a reality check on the situation in Iraq from two prize-winning journalists: John Burns of The New York Times and Rajiv Chandrasekaran of The Washington Post.
And for our North American viewers, coming up at 1 p.m. Eastern, an entire hour of top reporting and analysis on the world's conflicts. "This Week at War" with John Roberts. That follows "Late Edition" at 1 p.m. Eastern. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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