A Democratic presidential candidate, John Edwards, said America needs to move beyond President Bush’s “war on terror” to confront new threats with diplomacy and a military rebuilt after an illadvised war in Iraq.

Mr. Edwards, in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations yesterday in New York City, said America must rebuild its military and its standing in the world because of the war and that American troops should be withdrawn from Iraq within a year.

“We need to recognize that we have far more powerful weapons available to us than just bombs, and we need to bring them to bear,” Mr. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, said in prepared remarks released by his campaign. “We need to re-engage the world with the full weight of our moral leadership.”

Since launching his campaign last year in New Orleans to highlight the government’s failed response to Hurricane Katrina, Mr. Edwards has emphasized domestic issues such as income inequality and the millions of Americans who lack health care. Recently, he has begun to speak out more on foreign policy issues, particularly the war in Iraq.

He has been especially critical of lawmakers, including his Democratic opponents, Senators Clinton of New York and Obama of Illinois, for not pressing for an immediate end to the war in Iraq by using congressional powers to withhold funds.

Mr. Edwards yesterday called a compromise between Democratic lawmakers and the White House to provide almost $100 billion in war funding with no withdrawal requirements a “capitulation.” Democrats drafted the new measure after Mr. Bush vetoed an earlier funding bill because it included a withdrawal timetable.

“Any compromise that funds the war through the end of the fiscal year isn’t a compromise at all, it’s a capitulation,” Mr. Edwards said. “Congress should send the president the same bill he vetoed again and again until he realizes he has no choice but to start bringing our troops home.”

Beyond Iraq, Mr. Edwards said the nation needs “strong and creative diplomacy” to rebuild international alliances, and he also called on America to lead the fight against poverty.

“I’ve proposed a plan to lead an international effort to educate every child in the world,” he said. “As president, I would increase foreign assistance by $5 billion a year to make millions of people safer, healthier, and more democratic, and by creating a Cabinet-level post to lead this effort.”

If he were elected president, Mr. Edwards said he would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and “restore habeas corpus, and ban torture” to help restore America’s stature in the world.

Mr. Edwards said he would use military force only if all options, including diplomacy, had been exhausted, and then only for justifiable causes such as a response to aggression, stopping genocide, or preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Finally, Mr. Edwards proposed a 10,000-member “Marshall Corps” made of up “expert professionals” to serve in humanitarian missions.

“Civilians with training and experience need to be involved in stabilizing states with weak governments and providing humanitarian assistance where disasters have struck,” he said.