Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards's speech about Iraq yesterday in Portsmouth was as much about his opposition to private security contractors as it was about his chief rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.

During a speech billed as a policy rollout against security firm Blackwater USA and its peers, Edwards called for limiting roles for such contractors, greater oversight and a complete termination of combat missions in Iraq. He also said Clinton hasn't done enough to end the war.

"She said that she would continue to conduct combat missions in Iraq. My view is, if you're not ending combat missions and combat operations, you're not ending the war," Edwards said.

Edwards, who like Clinton voted to authorize the war in 2002, said he made the wrong decision.

"It's a painful discussion for me, but I will lay it out for you. You won't hear any political talk out of me. I was plain wrong. Period. I'm going to have to live with that fact," said Edwards, who left the Senate after a failed campaign as his party's vice presidential nominee in 2004.

"I got lots of information. I got information as a senator. I got information as a person on the Intelligence Committee. I got information from Clinton officials, high-level Clinton officials and they had just left office. They all said the same thing about what was happening in Iraq."

Edwards said he wants to end all combat missions in Iraq and remove all the troops who would be involved in them. His plan would get 40,000 to 50,000 troops out immediately and have a full exodus within 10 months. He has said non-combat personnel would be necessary to protect diplomatic efforts, currently aided by firms such as Blackwater.

"Unless this is the only embassy in the world that we don't have some protection for, there would have to be some troops there for that purpose," Edwards said. "But not for purposes of war. And not for combat purposes."

At the Democratic debate last week in New Hampshire, Edwards joined other leading candidates saying he could not guarantee to pull all U.S. combat troops by the end of the next presidential term in 2013.

"I cannot make that commitment," he said.

Clinton also has refused to pledge to withdraw all troops, citing the need to stay on offense against terrorism.

Candidate Bill Richardson, New Mexico's governor, said only he would bring a true end to the war.

"John Edwards would change the mission," he said. "I will end the war."

Edwards's anti-war stances have helped his presidential bid, despite what rivals have seized as contradictions. He told voters that policy shouldn't be based in the "short-term, shortsighted view of this issue."

"We've propped up very bad regimes. . . . Remember, It was America that propped up Saddam Hussein. It was America that propped up the Taliban. It's not just a matter of aiding them, we've actually propped up and supported very bad regimes," he said. "Unless I missed something, the hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, the vast majority of them, and the Saudis haven't done anything to help with the situation."

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