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| International-UN-NGOs |
| Kerry's case for allies hurt by U.N. oil scandal |
| 2004-10-18 |
| John Kerry has been so busy on the campaign trail spouting "wrong war, wrong place, wrong time" and trying to woo voters with how he's going to "build alliances" to make Iraq all better that he probably hasn't had time to review the tape of fascinating and frustrating testimony that took place in Washington three days before the second presidential debate. The Bush team has a lot of ammo to throw at John Forbes Kerry. The House Committee on Government Reform's subcommittee investigating the U.N. oil-for-food program heard disturbing accounts of how our "allies" — some of the same countries that cited moral grounds for refusing to back President Bush's pre-emptive move into Iraq — did a first-class job of sabotaging a sanctions program that might have kept Saddam Hussein in check, eliminating the need to shut him down militarily. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #4 This issue eviscerates Kerry's claim that he would have brought more allies (read France and Germany) This eviscerates the notion that France is an "ally." They were quite clearly on the side of Saddam and were doing all in their power to trash the sanctions regime and with it, containment. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-18 2:25:18 PM |
| #3 This issue eviscerates Kerry's claim that he would have brought more allies (read France and Germany) on board and achieved UN support for going to war against Iraq. The problem is that Bush cannot go around trumpeting the fact that France, China, and Russia were acting to uphold their part of a bribe-deal with Hussein--he has to deal with those nations and can't slam them publicly. Hopefully some 527 will publicize this issue to the electorate since the MSM isn't doing it (although I saw a special on Fox last night that was devastating). |
| Posted by: sludj 2004-10-18 1:45:32 PM |
| #2 Wasn't Kerry's case for allies hurt by the mere fact that the U.N. Security Council passed resolution after resolution for over a decade with no results and no enforcement. The U.N. Security Council is a joke, as is the concept of "building alliances." Alliances form or don't form based on mutual interest. The only way you "sweet talk" people into alliances they would not otherwise make is basically to bribe them with goodies. France can forget that. |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-10-18 8:41:04 AM |
| #1 "In terms of being a sanctions regime that stopped Saddam Hussein’s attempts from busting it and cheating, and using funds to get prohibited materials, it was not a total success," testified Ambassador Patrick Kennedy, the U.S. representative to U.N. Management and Reform. A Harvard man, obviously. Master of Understatement, most likely. "The Tunguska meteorite caused a fairly large bang"... |
| Posted by: mojo 2004-10-18 12:52:51 AM |