Reply #21: I fail to see how you can read the WSJ oped and say that he has lost perspective

[karynnj]

There is a similar motivation in that oped - arguing for examining every assumption behind any strategy or policy and making sure that we have a policy that matches our goals - to what he was asking for in 1971. The difference is that here he is trying to insure that we have a policy that makes sense. This is not any different than when he made the case for Kerry/Feingold.

However, I can see that neither of us will convince the other. All I can say is that Kerry and anyone else pushing to allow a thorough review is working to prevent the lock step escalation that otherwise would happen. They may not succeed - Obama might take the path of least resistance or even after a review, he may become convinced that the counterinsurgency approach is the right one.

Sorry, but cynicism is not always more intelligent, more mature or wiser. Senator Kerry has, in his life, stood against the "big club" at least 3 times - even though - if I believed as you do - that he risked being denied entrance to the club or kicked out each time he did this. I assume that Kerry could easily find something more fun to do than to go to Afghanistan next month.