The Kerry Record: Right On Iraq, Now and Then
On September 20, 2004, John Kerry delivered an outstanding speech on Iraq; indeed, Senator Kerry delivered the outstanding speech on Iraq. Kerry's statement of his position on Iraq represents precisely what America and the world need to hear at this crucial moment in time. No one should be satisfied with simply hearing the snippets of the speech that are presented on the evening news, although Kerry's speech was so good that even the most heavy-handed editors cannot conceal the fact that Kerry has hit a grand-slam home run in the bottom of the ninth on this issue. Nevertheless, I would recommend that the speech be read in its entirety, and it can be viewed at www.johnkerry.com.
Kerry has clearly articulated all of the critically-important points that must govern American policy in Iraq. Kerry's clarion declaration included the following: (1) Bush's invasion of Iraq was unwarranted and unjustified, and the removal of Saddam Hussein was not, in and of itself, a valid reason for the war; (2) withdrawal of all American troops at the earliest practicable time must be our government's prime objective; (3) an indefinite American occupation of Iraq is not an option; (4) conditions in Iraq must be stabilized through a combination of expedited reconstruction and cooperative international peace-keeping, not unilateral American military action; (5) other nations should be given incentives to cooperate in the stabilization of Iraq by opening up bidding on reconstruction contracts, even if that means cutting into some of the gravy being ladled out to the Bush/Cheney good old boys at Halliburton; (6) full and fair Iraqi elections, subject to meaningful international supervision which is currently impossible under Bush's policy, must be held as soon as possible.
Every rational voice in the media has praised Kerry's articulation of a comprehensive approach to addressing the Iraq dilemma. The New York Times ran an editorial entitled "Straight Talk, At Last, On Iraq." Considering the kind of mealy-mouthed stuff that usually shows up on the Times' editorial page, this was an amazingly candid recognition of Kerry's triumph.
Unfortunately, straight talk is the last thing you can expect from Bush and his band of high-priced prevaricators. They have already started running obnoxious ads accusing Kerry of "flip-flopping" on Iraq. Let's consign this tired false accusation to the dustbin of lies in which it rightly belongs. The truth is that Kerry is not only right on Iraq today, he has been right on Iraq all along. And, Kerry has been totally consistent in his position on Iraq. Turn off the Republican media noise machine for a moment and take a look at the facts.
Senator Kerry gave a detailed statement on Iraq in a pre-war speech given on the Senate floor on October 9, 2002, which can be viewed at www.independentsforkerry.org. At that time, Senator Kerry voted in favor of a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but only if it was necessary to do so in order to defend American national security and in order to enforce UN resolutions prohibiting Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction. As Kerry made very clear at the time, this vote was not the blank check for war that Bush now claims it to have been. Moreover, Senator Kerry's 2002 speech made it clear that he never supported Bush's agenda of unilateral "pre-emptive" war in Iraq, and that his position on Iraq has always been consistent with what he recently said in the September 20 speech. Take a look at the comparisons:
1. "Regime Change" Was Not Justification for Bush's War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, in itself, a reason to go to war." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "As much as we decry the way Saddam Hussein has treated his people, regime change alone is not a sufficient reason for going to war, as desirable as it is to change the regime."
2. Bush's Dishonesty About the Reasons for War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "[Bush] failed to tell the truth about the rationale for going to war. ... His two main rationales -- weapons of mass destruction and the Al Quaeda/September 11 connection -- have been proved false by the president's own weapons inspectors and by the 9/11 Commission." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Let me be clear, the vote I will give to the President is for one reason and one reason only: To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. ... In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill his commitments he has made to the American people in recent days -- to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out."
3. The Impropriety of Bush's Unilateral Military Action in Iraq. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president rushed to war without letting the weapons inspectors finish their work. He went without a broad and deep coalition of allies. He acted without making sure our troops had enough body armor. And he plunged ahead without understanding or preparing for the consequences of the post-war. None of which I would have done." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Let there be no doubt where we stand on this. I will support a multilateral effort to disarm him by force, if we ever exhaust those other options [i.e., inspections], but I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible under any circumstances. .. But it is not imminent, and no one in the CIA, no intelligence briefing we have had suggests it is imminent."
4. America Has Been Made Less Secure By Bush's War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president's policy in Iraq divided our oldest alliances and sent our standing in the Muslim world into free fall. Three years after 9/11, even in many moderate Muslim countries like Jordan, Morocco, and Turkey, Osama bin Laden is more popular than the United States of America. Let me put it plainly: The president's policy in Iraq has not strengthened our national security. It has weakened it." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "The administration may not be in the habit of building coalitions, but that is what they need to do. If we go it alone without reason, we risk inflaming an entire region, breeding a new generation of terrorists, a new cadre of anti-American zealots, and we will be less secure, not more secure, at the end of the day, even with Saddam Hussein disarmed."
5. Congress Never Voted To Give Bush A Blank Check For War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "Two years ago, Congress was right to give the president the authority to use force to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. This president, any president would have needed the threat of force to act effectively. This president misused that authority." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Congressional action on this resolution is not the end of our national debate on how best to disarm Iraq. Nor does it mean we have exhausted all of our peaceful options to achieve this goal. There is much more to be done. The administration must continue its efforts to build support at the United Nations for a new, unfettered, unconditional weapons inspection regime. We have an obligation to try that as the first course of action before we expend American lives in any further effort."
6. International Cooperation Is Necessary to Reconstruct Iraq. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone. ... After insulting allies and shredding alliances, this president may not have the trust and confidence to bring others to our side in Iraq. But we cannot hope to succeed unless we rebuild and lead strong alliances so that other nations share the burden with us." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "The United States, without question, has the military power to enter this conflict unilaterally. But we do need friends. We need logistical support such as bases, command and control centers, overflight rights from allies in the region. ... The international community's support will be critical because we will not be able to rebuild Iraq singlehandedly. We will lack the credibility and the expertise and the capacity."
The only "flip-flopping" (with an emphasis on flopping) that has been going on in reference to Iraq is in connection with the disastrous mess that Bush's policies have created. One very tragic example of the chaos wrought by Bush's incompetence and indecision can be seen in his handling of the situation in Fallujah, which is well-chronicled in an article entitled "Bush's Bloody Flip-Flop," www.consortiumnews.com. Last April, Bush overruled Marine commanders by first ordering a massive ground and air assault on Fallujah following the murder of four U.S. contractors. However Bush then overruled those same commanders three days later by calling off the offensive in the midst of the attack. Today, as a direct consequence of Bush's vacillation, as Kerry properly emphasized in his September 20 speech, "Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, even parts of Baghdad -- are now "no go zones" -- breeding grounds for terrorists who are free to plot and launch attacks against our soldiers."
At every step of the way, Bush has done the wrong thing in Iraq. It is equally clear that Senator Kerry has been right all along. Kerry has now given a blueprint for the future that can give confidence to all Americans that this country can get on the right track -- in Iraq and everywhere else -- as soon as Bush is voted out of office.
Kerry has clearly articulated all of the critically-important points that must govern American policy in Iraq. Kerry's clarion declaration included the following: (1) Bush's invasion of Iraq was unwarranted and unjustified, and the removal of Saddam Hussein was not, in and of itself, a valid reason for the war; (2) withdrawal of all American troops at the earliest practicable time must be our government's prime objective; (3) an indefinite American occupation of Iraq is not an option; (4) conditions in Iraq must be stabilized through a combination of expedited reconstruction and cooperative international peace-keeping, not unilateral American military action; (5) other nations should be given incentives to cooperate in the stabilization of Iraq by opening up bidding on reconstruction contracts, even if that means cutting into some of the gravy being ladled out to the Bush/Cheney good old boys at Halliburton; (6) full and fair Iraqi elections, subject to meaningful international supervision which is currently impossible under Bush's policy, must be held as soon as possible.
Every rational voice in the media has praised Kerry's articulation of a comprehensive approach to addressing the Iraq dilemma. The New York Times ran an editorial entitled "Straight Talk, At Last, On Iraq." Considering the kind of mealy-mouthed stuff that usually shows up on the Times' editorial page, this was an amazingly candid recognition of Kerry's triumph.
Unfortunately, straight talk is the last thing you can expect from Bush and his band of high-priced prevaricators. They have already started running obnoxious ads accusing Kerry of "flip-flopping" on Iraq. Let's consign this tired false accusation to the dustbin of lies in which it rightly belongs. The truth is that Kerry is not only right on Iraq today, he has been right on Iraq all along. And, Kerry has been totally consistent in his position on Iraq. Turn off the Republican media noise machine for a moment and take a look at the facts.
Senator Kerry gave a detailed statement on Iraq in a pre-war speech given on the Senate floor on October 9, 2002, which can be viewed at www.independentsforkerry.org. At that time, Senator Kerry voted in favor of a resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq, but only if it was necessary to do so in order to defend American national security and in order to enforce UN resolutions prohibiting Iraqi possession of weapons of mass destruction. As Kerry made very clear at the time, this vote was not the blank check for war that Bush now claims it to have been. Moreover, Senator Kerry's 2002 speech made it clear that he never supported Bush's agenda of unilateral "pre-emptive" war in Iraq, and that his position on Iraq has always been consistent with what he recently said in the September 20 speech. Take a look at the comparisons:
1. "Regime Change" Was Not Justification for Bush's War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, in itself, a reason to go to war." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "As much as we decry the way Saddam Hussein has treated his people, regime change alone is not a sufficient reason for going to war, as desirable as it is to change the regime."
2. Bush's Dishonesty About the Reasons for War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "[Bush] failed to tell the truth about the rationale for going to war. ... His two main rationales -- weapons of mass destruction and the Al Quaeda/September 11 connection -- have been proved false by the president's own weapons inspectors and by the 9/11 Commission." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Let me be clear, the vote I will give to the President is for one reason and one reason only: To disarm Iraq of weapons of mass destruction. ... In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill his commitments he has made to the American people in recent days -- to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out."
3. The Impropriety of Bush's Unilateral Military Action in Iraq. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president rushed to war without letting the weapons inspectors finish their work. He went without a broad and deep coalition of allies. He acted without making sure our troops had enough body armor. And he plunged ahead without understanding or preparing for the consequences of the post-war. None of which I would have done." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Let there be no doubt where we stand on this. I will support a multilateral effort to disarm him by force, if we ever exhaust those other options [i.e., inspections], but I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible under any circumstances. .. But it is not imminent, and no one in the CIA, no intelligence briefing we have had suggests it is imminent."
4. America Has Been Made Less Secure By Bush's War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president's policy in Iraq divided our oldest alliances and sent our standing in the Muslim world into free fall. Three years after 9/11, even in many moderate Muslim countries like Jordan, Morocco, and Turkey, Osama bin Laden is more popular than the United States of America. Let me put it plainly: The president's policy in Iraq has not strengthened our national security. It has weakened it." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "The administration may not be in the habit of building coalitions, but that is what they need to do. If we go it alone without reason, we risk inflaming an entire region, breeding a new generation of terrorists, a new cadre of anti-American zealots, and we will be less secure, not more secure, at the end of the day, even with Saddam Hussein disarmed."
5. Congress Never Voted To Give Bush A Blank Check For War. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "Two years ago, Congress was right to give the president the authority to use force to hold Saddam Hussein accountable. This president, any president would have needed the threat of force to act effectively. This president misused that authority." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "Congressional action on this resolution is not the end of our national debate on how best to disarm Iraq. Nor does it mean we have exhausted all of our peaceful options to achieve this goal. There is much more to be done. The administration must continue its efforts to build support at the United Nations for a new, unfettered, unconditional weapons inspection regime. We have an obligation to try that as the first course of action before we expend American lives in any further effort."
6. International Cooperation Is Necessary to Reconstruct Iraq. On September 20, 2004, Senator Kerry said, "The president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone. ... After insulting allies and shredding alliances, this president may not have the trust and confidence to bring others to our side in Iraq. But we cannot hope to succeed unless we rebuild and lead strong alliances so that other nations share the burden with us." On October 9, 2002, Senator Kerry said, "The United States, without question, has the military power to enter this conflict unilaterally. But we do need friends. We need logistical support such as bases, command and control centers, overflight rights from allies in the region. ... The international community's support will be critical because we will not be able to rebuild Iraq singlehandedly. We will lack the credibility and the expertise and the capacity."
The only "flip-flopping" (with an emphasis on flopping) that has been going on in reference to Iraq is in connection with the disastrous mess that Bush's policies have created. One very tragic example of the chaos wrought by Bush's incompetence and indecision can be seen in his handling of the situation in Fallujah, which is well-chronicled in an article entitled "Bush's Bloody Flip-Flop," www.consortiumnews.com. Last April, Bush overruled Marine commanders by first ordering a massive ground and air assault on Fallujah following the murder of four U.S. contractors. However Bush then overruled those same commanders three days later by calling off the offensive in the midst of the attack. Today, as a direct consequence of Bush's vacillation, as Kerry properly emphasized in his September 20 speech, "Fallujah, Ramadi, Samarra, even parts of Baghdad -- are now "no go zones" -- breeding grounds for terrorists who are free to plot and launch attacks against our soldiers."
At every step of the way, Bush has done the wrong thing in Iraq. It is equally clear that Senator Kerry has been right all along. Kerry has now given a blueprint for the future that can give confidence to all Americans that this country can get on the right track -- in Iraq and everywhere else -- as soon as Bush is voted out of office.
posted by democratic core at 10:54 AM
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