Three weeks ago, Edwards took the House floor in opposition to Obama's Afghanistan policy.
The president, she said, would "commit our servicemen and women to a war without end."
She was the only Marylander to vote against Obama's $96.7 million war funding request, which gained initial House approval on a bipartisan vote of 368-60, with 51 Democratic liberals opposed. A final vote is expected Friday.
Her "no" vote put her at odds with some on the left whose enthusiasm for Obama outweighs their doubts about his war plan. Moveon.org, which gained power as an antiwar group and was an influential part of an online coalition that backed Edwards, did nothing on the war funding vote, for example.
The hawkish Washington Post editorial board criticized her, but Edwards said she had given the issue considerable study and traveled to Afghanistan just days before opposing Obama's request.
They "may have called me naive for that" vote, she told the liberal activists. "But if we don't ask the questions now, we'll be asking ourselves these questions ten years from now, I guarantee that."
Another foreign-policy move that generated criticism was her refusal to support a measure that recognized Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas and blamed the Islamist movement for casualties in Gaza Strip fighting that flared in late December 2008. The Jan. 9 resolution was approved 390-5, with Edwards and 20 others voting "present."
It was "the wrong resolution at the wrong time," and not in the best interest of resolving the crisis, she explained after the vote. But Politico reported this week that Edwards had alienated some in the Jewish community in the Washington suburbs, who question the depth of her support for Israel.
"Look, I voted 'present' on a resolution that was apparently very important to the Jewish lobby. And so, obviously, that's going to result in an expression of, whatever, concern and questions," Edwards said during the interview in her House office.
She calls Israel "a really important ally" and says she's a strong supporter of the Jewish state. But "even with allies and partners, it's important for the United States also to stake out our own security interests and work with our allies and partners on those."
Edwards recently came back from a six-day trip to Israel, sponsored by the nonpartisan New America Foundation, that included a visit to the Gaza Strip. She said she backs Obama's efforts to secure a Mideast peace, including his call for a freeze on the expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank.
