Speaking at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson made a pitch for himself as a presidential candidate.

He challenged the other Democratic candidates on Iraq when he said: “They’ve decided to stop talking about Iraq. Their campaign strategies have shifted to other issues.  Over the last few debates and on the campaign trail, our brave troops in Iraq seem to have been forgotten.”

Richardson did not ignore domestic issues in his speech. Among other concerns, he addressed unions and labor issues; health care; education and No Child Left Behind; and global warming and alternative energy issues.

He was asked by Cornell College student Bianca Byrd about leaving Iraq too soon. She said she was worried that Iraq would “implode” if we removed troops without a plan for protecting Iraqi people and stabilizing the region.

She was happy with his answer to her question.  He said he wants to have “American diplomacy take over” after removing U.S. troops.  He explained further that:

“Iraq is not exactly helpless. They  have over 300,000 security forces; … they have a financial foundation for the future. … And then we can pay attention to what really concerns America, which is threats of international terrorism, nuclear terrorism, loose nuclear weapons, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, becoming energy independent, helping with international poverty and disease and having a foundation of having a foreign policy based on our human rights.”

More videos of Richardson’s speech are below the fold.Part of Richardson’s speech on the teleprompter

Here is more from Richardson on U.S. troops in Iraq:

Richardson was also asked about Iran and the vote on branding Iran’s Republican Guard as a terrorist organization. 

He distanced himself from opponent Hillary Clinton, saying she was wrong to vote for the resolution, but he was quick to remind the audience of his work for former President Bill Clinton’s administration.

Here is Richardson on the foreign policy challenge of Iran and the rest of the middle East:

More on Richardson’s recent Iowa events from Iowa Independent reporters John Deeth and Tom Lindsey.