PITTSBURGH -- Sen. John Edwards, the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry, campaigned in Oakland Tuesday.

Health care and anti-terrorism efforts were among the hot topics of Edwards' town hall meeting, which was held at Wiegand Gymnasium on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University.

"When John Kerry is president, we will find these terrorists where they are and we will crush them before they can do harm to the American people," Edwards said.

Edwards also addressed the war in Iraq, calling it a "mess" and blaming President George W. Bush.

"I'm convinced that the only two people in America who still believe no mistakes have been made in Iraq are George Bush and Dick Cheney," Edwards said. "... George Bush created the mess we now have in Iraq, but both John Kerry and I are committed to us being successful."

Kristen Breitweiser, whose husband died in the 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center, joined Edwards as a guest speaker. She has been traveling with him in support of the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

"I have a 5-year-old little girl who lost her dad to al-Qaida, and I don't want to lose her one day -- she's working in the city, or on mass transportation, and she gets blown up as payback for Iraq," Breitweiser said.

Following the event, Edwards held a question-and-answer session with the crowd.

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