Richardson calls for immediate pullout from Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson criticized his rivals on Thursday for failing to support an immediate and complete U.S. troop pullout from Iraq, saying it is time to "get all our troops out now."

In prepared remarks for a speech at Georgetown University, Richardson said Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards all have taken a wait-and-see attitude about when to draw down U.S. troops.

"I say there has been enough waiting and seeing," he said. "If you haven't seen enough to know that we need to get all the troops out, then you aren't watching the same war that I and the rest of America are seeing."

The three leading Democratic presidential contenders -- Clinton, Obama and Edwards -- all call for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

But at a debate in New Hampshire in late September, they refused to promise to bring all American troops home from Iraq by January 2013, which would be the end of their first term.

Clinton came under fire from the others because she did not rule out continuing some combat operations.

With more than 3,800 Americans killed in Iraq, public sentiment largely favors removing the United States from the 4-1/2-year-old conflict.

Richardson said his competitors have shown they want to change the mission, but not end the war.

"The foundation of my Iraq plan is this: Get out now. Get all our troops out now," the New Mexico governor said.

He also proposed cuts of $57 billion in "unnecessary Pentagon spending" and said he would stop construction of new nuclear weapons.