You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Home Front: Politix
Time mag: Kerry to send 'his own team' to Iraq to assess situation
2004-03-07
New York – Senator John Kerry tells TIME that he "almost certainly" will send a team to Iraq "within the next few weeks or months" to help him formulate his Iraq policy positions. "I may ask some Democratic colleagues and experts to go to Iraq and make this assessment so I have a strong basis on which to proceed," he tells TIME's Perry Bacon, Lisa Beyer and Karen Tumulty on his campaign plane from Washington, DC to Florida last week. He mentions Senate colleague Joseph Biden, chief campaign foreign policy adviser Rand Beers and longtime Kerry Senate aide Nancy Stetson. But, says White House communications director Dan Bartlett, Kerry's "mission to finally understand what is happening in Iraq reveals once again that (his) attacks are based on politics, not facts."
Say John, do you remember anything about the Constitution and 'separation of powers' from civics class? No? Didn't think so.
Whatever approach he embraces will have a better chance of success, Kerry argues, because he knows how to play well with himself others, TIME's Nancy Gibbs reports. When asked by TIME about President Bush's hate of the word 'nuance' and his opinion of the word, Kerry says, "Some of these issues are very complicated and deserve more than a simplistic this or that," says Kerry. As he speaks, Kerry heats up, grows loud, almost angry. His message shifts: Don't for a moment think all that worldliness means he has no convictions. Or that he is weak or a waffler or a political opportunist, TIME reports.
He is weak, waffling and an opportunist, and I've been thinking that for more than a moment.
"I don’t think war is nuanced at all. I think how you take a nation to war is the most fundamental decision a President makes," Kerry says, "and there's nothing nuanced at all about keeping your promises. There is nothing nuanced about exhausting remedies that give you legitimacy and consent to go to war. And I refuse ever to accept the notion that anything I've suggested with respect to Iraq was nuanced. It was clear. It was precise. It was, in fact, prescient. It was ahead of the curve about what the difficulties were. And that is precisely what a President is supposed to be. I think I was right, 100% correct, about how you should have done Iraq."
"We should have gone but not gone, we should have done what was right but only if our friends agreed, we should rebuild Iraq but not fund the rebuilding." Yep, clear to me.
Kerry says he learned from Vietnam and did I tell you I served in Vietnam?, where he served as a swift boat commander YESSSSSH! I did tell you, that you go to war only if all other options fail and that you had better make certain you are prepared to do what it takes to secure peace afterward. Whatever his criticisms of Bush's war, Kerry says he is committed to finishing the mission. "My exit strategy is success," he says, "a viable, stable Iraq that can contribute to the stability and peace in the Middle East."
But your plans to implement that strategy will fail, John.
Among the first things Kerry would do as President, says Sandy Berger, who was a National Security Adviser under Bill Clinton and has consulted with Kerry on the subject, would be to tell the American people to "put aside your misgivings or whatever you thought about this in the beginning. We cannot fail now."
So he's only two years behind GWB in strategy. D'oh.
Posted by:Steve White

#11  The fact that Kerry would use Rand Beers on his foreign policy team indicates a willingness to employ mediocrities, and, as some have called him, a perjurer. See http://www.narconews.com/beersperjury1.html
Posted by: Tancred   2004-3-7 10:00:13 PM  

#10  Kerry knows how to play well with others - no argument there. Problem is we want someone who will work well with others for that job.
Posted by: B   2004-3-7 8:33:56 PM  

#9  Kerry argues, because he knows how to play well with others

Yeah, just ask the south Vietmanese. I can even introduce you to one -- her family was driven out of Vietnam when Kerry's friends the North Vietmanese took over.

Don't for a moment think all that worldliness means he has no convictions. Or that he is weak or a waffler or a political opportunist, TIME reports.

I dont have to think it. I know it --- his record is screaming it! Kerry has been short stroking himself to get elected president since before Vietnam. In fact that is the sole reason he went is so he can tell everyone about it during his campaigns. Scary....
Posted by: CrazyFool   2004-3-7 7:40:36 PM  

#8  JAB has hit the nail on the head. The reason we (and it is 'we' - as in Western Civilisation) are in Iraq and trying to make the place work is because *we know* what the alternative is. This war will end with the Islamic world reforming, or it will end with the Islamic world disappearing. If the mullahs had half an ounce of intelligence they would dump all their nuke technology in an instant. They don't. They are besotted with the idea of a truly Islamic bomb (not the faux-Islam of Pakistan this, but the real McCoy - Tehran style), but have not thought the thing through.

For instance, I don't doubt that there is a Pentagon plan for the nuking of the UK. I don't like it, but it's the way the world has been kept safe for the last 60 years. It works. Because we know that the retaliation would be unimaginable - we wouldn't launch missiles at the US, and nor would we do anything to have the finger pointed at us if there were a detonation in the US. Now, think about some of the planning that must have taken place in the Pentagon after 9/11. The scenario of the UK disappearing in a puff of smoke is, I believe, highly remote. I put forward the notion that there must exist a plan which calls for the destruction of the Islamic world, and that this plan is anything but a remote scenario given the Pakistani and Iranian bombs.

The Mullahs (and by implication the Islamic world) do not think in terms of deterrence. They would love to bloody the nose of the US, and in doing so bring a terrible retribution on themselves.

Sorry, this has drifted off Kerry a bit, but my point is that this coming election has little to do with budget deficits, nor with gay marriages nor medicare benefits. It is fundamentally about whether the wheels are put in motion for the destruction of the Islamic world, with a Kerry presidency and 'business as usual at the UN, and ten more years of sanctions on Iran', or whether the Islamic has a chance at reforming with Bush being re-elected.

What an irony it would be if GWB, a born-again christian, was hailed as the saviour of a renewed Islam.
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2004-3-7 7:05:21 PM  

#7  JAB, I suspect the election ,as close as the media claims it may be will boil down to two definitive styles:

1) Real world tried and true solutions to problems, but more importantly, better hope for a better future. Strong Defense, lowered taxes, lowered regulations, snd, God willing reduced federal government.

2) Railing against the extremeist rightwing and jerking off about how much better a socialist will handle the nation's current business: Higher taxes, deprecated defenses, and stifling regulatory environment including a socialist federal agenda, for everyone.

At least, that's the plan. ;o)
Posted by: badanov   2004-3-7 4:25:12 PM  

#6  I can empathize with the poor Dhimmycrats. I, too, am occasionally racked with ambivalence:
pull out -or- complete the emission.

The difference is that they seem to have developed quite a taste for the run away response, leaving themselves open to criticism for the messes they leave behind. I, for one, am becoming rather tired of fetching a towel.
[Content Warning]

Posted by: .com   2004-3-7 3:49:41 PM  

#5  Watch this space. Kerry will try to build an case that he basically agrees with Bush's desired outcome but is more competent than Bush to achieve it because he is a combat veteran and nuanced thinker.

The media will give him a free pass in making this case. Because Kerry has no real responsibility, he can sit back and demagouge ever bit of bad news that comes along. He's leading in the polls already and may be able to monday morning quarterback his way to convincing the electorate he can handle national security.

If he wins, the UN and regional powers will be more than happy to 'cooperate' in 'cleaning up this mess' and the end result will be that we give up the strategic gains we've made since 9/11 as these gains are based on our demonstrated willingness to stay and fight rather than our mere presence on the ground. Kerry simply does not have the will to do what is necessary for strategic victory. Bush does. The mullahs, dictators, terrorists and weasels of the world understand this.

If Kerry is elected, life will probably seem good for a few years of false peace punctuated by law enforcement and intelligence successes against the terrorists. Then, inevitably, something big will happen and Kerry, or his successor, will find themselves flipping through a book of launch codes with no alternatives.

Don't mean to be morose, but a lot is at stake in this election. It's a single issue one for most of us who read Rantburg, but we need to be aware that we are relatively unique in the electorate.
Posted by: JAB   2004-3-7 3:32:29 PM  

#4  Looks a though the whole Dimmycrat party is infected with the I Have a Scream Syndrome.
Posted by: dataman1   2004-3-7 2:31:17 PM  

#3  wellll, he has a habit of picking up paychecks when not showing up for work (votes). That needs to be raised as an issue:
"As President, would you show up for work every day? Or take a partial paycut for the periods you're busy somewhere else?"
Posted by: Frank G   2004-3-7 2:26:32 PM  

#2  So the fuckhead (pardon my French) is admitting that his statements in regards to Iraq have been based on ignorance?
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-3-7 2:21:41 PM  

#1  god that Kerrys a fucking prick, hope he gets rectal cancer
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K   2004-3-7 2:20:27 PM  

00:00