Reply #26: You Are Using Overly Vague Statements

[DrFunkenstein]

Like "invading" and "buying into." Ritter supported unfettered inspections and argued that Iraq did not represent an imminent threat. That is the same argument Kerry made.

Kerry supported disarmament based on the history of Saddam's regime after he signed the peace agreement terms of the Gulf War that called for disarmament and unfettered inspections. Saddam jerked UNSCOM around until Operation Desert Fox, and left a four year hole in our intelligence since that point. Kerry was calling for an end to Saddam's shenanigans, exhausting every peaceful remedy but still backed with the threat of force. That has been his position since at least 1997.

The resolution was not a perfect one, and Kerry voiced his regret that Gephardt and Lieberman undercut negotiations for Biden-Lugar. But he still felt the need to call on Saddam's disarmament. Dean came around to Kerry's way of thinking by February, although he speaks almost entirely of "imminent threats" rather than "disarmament" - a much more complex moral issue to dwell on.

Kerry has been unfailingly advocating Dean's February position since 1997.