Edwards Criticizes White House Plan To Sell Arms to Saudis

WASHINGTON — John Edwards said the Bush administration's plan to sell $20 billion worth of weapons to friendly Arab states amounted to a foreign policy of convenience and that he would take a tougher stance with Saudi Arabia if elected president.

Mr. Edwards said America should require the Saudi government to shut down the movement of terrorists across its borders, help stabilize the Iraqi government, and participate more seriously in regional security before they are offered weapons.

"Whether it's Iraq or terrorism, the Saudis have fallen way short of what they need to be doing," the 2004 vice presidential nominee said. "And the Bush administration's response is to sell them $20 billion worth of arms, which is short-term and convenient and not what the United States should be doing."

Mr. Edwards is the first Democratic presidential candidate to speak out against the deal. Mr. Edwards said the arms deal could backfire by giving Iran an incentive to build its nuclear strength. "They have to try to offset the conventional arms deficiencies that they're faced with," Mr. Edwards said. "That's the whole problem with this idea that you deal with these things in terms of what's helpful at the moment instead of what needs to be done over the long term." Mr. Edwards was speaking from a refueling stop in Garden City, Kan., between stops in California and Virginia.