Former UN Ambassador Supports Ford

A former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations came out in support of Harold Ford Jr. today.

Richard Holbrooke, who served in President Bill Clinton’s cabinet and is best known for brokering the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords in Bosnia, held a mid morning teleconference from New York.

He says Ford’s proposal to divide Iraq into three sections is similar to one being considered now, and will help quell sectarian violence. Holbrooke also blasted Ford’s Republican opponent Bob Corker for saying generals and troops in Iraq should guide war policy.

“The military does not make policy. They work out strategy and tactics. And the reason I’m doing this call for Harold Ford is because I know him well. And he would bring to the Senate the kind of voice who would be willing and anxious to work with the administration for a bipartisan solution this catastrophe.”

Corker spokesman Todd Womack says the situation in Iraq is better decided by people who are living and fighting there.

“Bob believes that we need to establish security first, focusing on hotspots, like Baghdad, weaken and disarm private militias, continue training Iraqi forces to boost their numbers to capacity and finally allow the Iraqi people to draw their own internal borders and not have Washington do it.”

Three polls place the Iraq war as the top issue that Tennesseans will consider when going to the polls next month.